UMIN edhel!
by Dawning Era
Summary: **FINISHED!!** Through a minor crisis, a group of girls find themselves in Middle-Earth where the one ring is being brought back by an unknown source. R
1. Elvish Speech

Disclaimer: I don't own Sindrian/Quenya or whatever form of elvish I'm using or LotR, not that I wouldn't mind. I also do not own any of the books mentioned or their authors.

A/N: Hehe, had to write this at _some_ point. Anyway, anything with a * next to it I could not translate into elvish, not that I didn't try for ages.

I'm NOT an Elf!

Liz slunk from her bed that Monday morning, wishing that she could have gotten more sleep that night. For some odd reason, she had kept hearing odd voices speaking to her in an odd language throughout the night which kept her from doing anything but doze for a half hour at a time. It didn't matter much in the end, she decided. She was always tired at school. It wasn't as though anyone would notice a difference. She spoke little, focusing on keeping awake as she got ready and waited for Kathy to arrive at her house.

"I'm going to Cancun!" she greeted semi-cheerily, only to be turned around to go to the car, where Blaine was already waiting. They still had a minute to wait before Liz's little brother, Charlie, finally came and got in before they finally left for school. 

The morning went by quickly and slowly at the same time, dragging on during work and speeding fast through conversations with friends. Desktop that day they explored a new program used to create graphics and posters. Liz had spent the majority of the time creating odd shapes rather than working on the actual project, but did not worry because it seemed easy enough to accomplish and it shouldn't take her more than a class or two to complete it. Once desktop finally wound to an end, the students were ushered to their next classes by the bell. 

Liz took her seat and chatted with Ann and Cristina, waiting for Mr. Wood to begin the class, though secretly she really wished that he wouldn't. He was a truly boring teacher who could not seem to understand that no one in the class was taking it of their own free will and thought that history was a wonderful subject. For most, it was quite the opposite.

It was half way through class by the time he finished with the homework discussion and it took another ten minutes to discuss a three minute in class assignment before they had their own free time to work and chat with their friends. Liz tapped Ann on the shoulder as she and Cristina began on the mini project assigned. "Guess what," she said with a slight mischievous smile. Before Ann had a chance to guess, she said, "I memorized that first bit of the Lord of the Rings Script."

"Oh dear," she said, her face a mirror of disbelief. 

__

Peredhel, you are mine, the odd voice that had kept Liz up all night proclaimed loudly, or at least more so than it had been all day while laying down a very quiet chant which Liz ignored until it became little more than a gentle hum. She ignored the voice even now, though it was a surprise for her mind to have fallen so quiet at it's departure. 

"Well, let's hear it, I guess," she said, a bit worried that Liz's sanity had been compromised. She had threatened to bring in an entire script today, or at least memorize the entire first speech at the beginning.

"I amar prestar aen," Liz recited. "Han mathon ne nen. Han mathon ne chae. A han noston ned gwilith. Much* taus eru nadhor si hiam an alpen si cuinar taus garo enyalie ha."

"Wow," Cristina said in amazement. "You've seen that movie _way_ too many times."

"No, it was off a script, right?" Ann said, turning to Liz for clarification. Liz only nodded and turned back to her work as Mr. Wood came over to check and make sure they were all doing their work. 

The bell went only a few minutes later and they scattered from the class to get their lunch, all meeting up again with all of their friends in the second floor common area, the Quiet Area which never kept it's namesake. Leigh and Louise were once more talking about Leigh's boyfriend as usual and everyone else seemed to be pretty much minding their own business. Janet had somehow managed to pull Nicole from her book to watch the Olympics on the television screen above them. 

Ruth came up behind Liz and put a hand on her head for no apparent reason, as she did so often since she had come back. Once Liz finally was able to poke her in the leg enough, Ruth lifted her hand and sat down next to her bag and Liz. "Hey elf girl," she said with a smile, knowing just how much it annoyed her.

"UMIN edhel!" Liz protested in a growl. Ruth looked at her oddly but didn't make any further comment aloud. Liz let herself be bothered by it for about five seconds longer before shaking it off. _It's not like I _wanted_ one of my ears to be pointed._

Liz made her way over to Janet and Nicole. "I telio?" she asked, trying to make heads and tails of the red and white teams on the ice and checked to make sure that they were not watching the American channel. For a moment, she thought she saw a blue dot highlighting the black puck on the white ice.

At first the pair ignored her, but she tried a second time, tapping them both hard on the shoulders and asking again. 

Janet and Nicole looked at her in extreme puzzlement. "What?" Janet asked.

"I telio?" Liz asked for the third time, growing annoyed at repeating herself.

"Yeah," Janet said sarcastically with a nod. "How about in English this time?"

Liz looked at her judgingly, and then at Nicole who's face was a mirror of puzzlement. "An agor," she said weakly. 

"You're talking in elvish!" Nicole declared, recognizing the language. "Where did you learn that? I couldn't quite make it out from the appendix in the back of the book."

Both Liz and Janet looked at her blankly. "When did you read Tolkien?" Janet asked. "You haven't finished with the Tamora Pierce books yet."

"Oh, I just read those at lunch here," Nicole replied dismissively. "At home I've read Tolkien, Brooks, Piers, Salvator, and I'm half way through The Mists of Avalon." At both of their blank gawking stares, she asked, "What?"

Janet turned to Liz and muttered, "We should have known." 

Liz only nodded in agreement, not trusting herself to speak. When had she begun to speak in elvish, and why didn't she know about it? Moreover, why had no one told her about it? More importantly, how did this happen? She didn't even know elvish beyond the few things she had looked up in the back of The Silmarillion.

"Man…?" she asked defeatedly, but expected no one to answer her.

"Hey, there was this theory in an astrophysics paper about wormholes I read a week ago that might help. If it's right, there should be a wormhole to the Lord of the Rings world in the construction area by the computer rooms. There, we could find someone who could understand her and find a way to fix her."

"Men gwanno, taare" Liz said, not bothering to be question anything, including the fact that Nicole had managed to understand an astrophysics book. 

Janet and Nicole clearly got the meaning and picked up their bags. Liz went to the other side of the group to where she had left hers and retrieved it. There were a number of customary, "Where are you going?"s exchanged and Liz left it to the other two to explain as best they could.

"We're going on a quest," Janet said with a smile across her face. "Anyone want to join us?"

"You're just going to the library again," Louise stated.

"No, we're going on a quest to make Liz speak English," Nicole interrupted.

"Ammen toi," Liz added, regardless of whether or not they could understand her. "Thenid."

"We are," Nicole added insistently. "Really."

"You're faking," Kathy said.

"An iest," Liz muttered in a retort.

Once they were thoroughly convinced that Liz was indeed not faking and that there was something wrong (by making her go up to Ms. Peters and inquire about her mark without laughing her head off, which she would have done under false circumstances), Kathy, Ruth, Louise and Leigh agreed to join them. Together, they managed to make their way around the duty teachers and into the construction area of the school which would one day hold new classrooms. They were lucky that the workers working on the section Nicole lead them through was off on their lunch breaks. 

"Okay, it should be right at this post," Nicole said, indicating a post ahead of them. She went first, putting a tentative hand through it, then pulling back quickly before rushing in. The rest followed one by one, Leigh being the last. "I always thought these things would be more like in the cartoons," she commented before following. 

A/N: Yeah…. I don't know what that was, but next chapter we will be meeting up with our favorite LotR characters. And next time I am definitely NOT going to be translating everything in elvish. If I can't find my way around the font thing, I'll find some way.


	2. Maiden or Monster?

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize from elsewhere!

A/N: This may take a bit. First, here are the translations for everything in the last chapter:

I amar prestar aen. Han mathon ne nen. Han mathon ne chae. A han noston ned gwilith. Much* taus eru nadhor si hiam an alpen si cuinar taus garo enyalie ha -_The world is changed. I can feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it._

UMIN edhel!- _I am NOT an elf!_

I telio?- _Who's playing?_

Man- _What_

Men gwanno, taare- _Let's go then_

Amen toi, thenid- _We are, really_

An iest- _I wish_

And now, my solution for my elvish problem. I didn't find a way to get around the fonts, so everything spoken in elvish will be put in *stars* so that you know. It's so much easier that way, huh? Anyway, here's the next bit with one of our favorite Lord of the Rings characters appearing.

Night had fallen long before the girls arrived in the strange land. They were in a lush forest with endless tees surrounding them. The darkness alarmed them for a minute, making them wonder what had happened to the sun. Soon, their focus turned to finding a good source of light. Nicole had a lighter on her and Ruth quickly found dry pine needles to use as kindling, but nothing to use as a torch.

Liz was trying to talk to them this entire time, but she saw that they were obviously getting quite frustrated with her vain attempts to tell them something so she went off on her own. They had been searching so hard and thinking of alternatives for the light that they didn't notice Liz was gone until she approached them with unlit torches about ten minutes later.

"Where did you find these?" Nicole asked sharply. 

*There's a few Rangers in the woods over there,* Liz replied, indicating over to the part of the woods where she had just returned from. She no longer cared whether or not they understood her, she was going to go on talking in elvish whether they liked it or not.

"We need to find a translator or _something _soon," Kathy said, growing frustrated. "Which way until we reach Elfland or whatever it's called?"

"We would have to know where we were before we could figure that out," Louise pointed out. 

*I know,* Liz offered.

"So, where are we?" Janet asked finally, turning to Nicole. The rest of them turned suspiciously to Nicole, who seemed to know much more than they had previously anticipated. This seemed like a simple enough question, much more so than the position of the wormhole in the school, so she must know.

*I know,* Liz repeated a bit more loudly, waving her arms a bit to get their attention.

"I don't _know_," Nicole said, dragging out the last word. "I just got us here, I didn't bother to bring a map."

*I…* Liz began a third time, but she knew they were not about to listen to her at the moment. She grabbed Leigh's arm instead, knowing that she would make the most noise about it and gain all of their attention, and dragged her in the direction of the rangers.

"Hey!" she exclaimed as she was being pulled. "Where are we going?"

Liz looked at her a moment with her eyebrows raised questioningly. Leigh seemed to get the point and did not ask any further questions that she knew would not be answered. They walked in a small group, Janet, Nicole and Louise around the edges with the torches and Liz leading. The rest grouped together in the middle, constantly searching for any sign of where they were.

Two darkly clad rangers stepped out at them suddenly after about four minutes of walking, one with his sword drawn and the other with an arrow aimed directly at them. Both looked at the group menacingly, eyeing the torches and recognizing them as their own. The girls they could not place. They seemed to be of the race of man, but their clothing was odd and unfamiliar to them.

*We're returning the torches,* Liz said with a bright smile and fear hidden in her eyes.

*Since when have thieves returned their plunder?* the swordsman asked suspiciously. 

"Liz, if they kill us…" Kathy began fearfully, but did not end the sentence. Their entire group had come closer together with fear mirrored in different degrees on their faces. The torch bearers looked like they might fight if it came down to that, but only then.

"Liz is your name?" the ranger asked. "Where do you come from and why are you here? There are orcs about this night."

*Lower your sword and I'll tell you,* Liz replied, jaw set. Once both he and the bowman lowered their weapons, the girls began to relax and let out the breaths they had been holding in. 

"They aren't going to kill us," Ruth said quietly after a breath of relief, then continued a little louder. "And they understand what the hell Liz is saying. And we're going to be late for class if we stay in this world much longer, so let's get this over with."

"Rangers can't fix speech problems," Janet interjected. "At least, not that I've heard of yet."

"Aw shoot, I have a test next block!" Kathy exclaimed irritably. "Ranger people, can you fix her?"

The rangers looked questioningly at each other, then at the girls. They now had no idea what to make of them whatsoever. Their speech was strange as their clothes and they did not seem to understand the girl who spoke in the elvish tongue, though she was clearly a comrade of theirs. They were, however, not bearing weapons and seemed like they would be perfectly harmless amongst a group of rangers.

"You may come to our cap and then we shall talk," the bowman offered, "and you can tell us of what strange lands you have come from and what brings a group of maidens to this part of the forest."

"Maidens?" Louise asked before bursting out into laughter. The rest of the girls joined in suit, leaving the two rangers to ponder over what was so funny as they lead them to the small camp. 

There were about six of them around the small fire, some asleep and others keeping watch or caring for the horses. The girls took a cautious seat around the camp fire, unsure of what to do. They all looked around to take a measure of their surroundings and of any escape routes they could use, all of them automatically thinking of taking the horses. Most of them gave up the notion with a swift reminder that none of them knew how to ride.

"You have yet to tell us where you come from and what brings you to our land," one of the rangers reminded them.

*That's a bit complicated,* Liz began nervously. *They're here because they are good friends and don't want to go to class at the moment. They have to go back really soon because the bell is going to go any minute now. I'm here because I can only speak in Sindrian and Quenya and they don't understand me. Can you fix it?* 

"Can you fix her?" Leigh prompted, trying to guess at what Liz had just said. 

The ranger looked at her questioningly, completely lost as to how to deal with the situation. "I don't know if I can help," the ranger said, "I have never encountered such a case. I will escort you to Rivendell to see Elrond if you wish, for there is much he may be able to solve that I cannot."

"And who are _you_?" Janet asked.

"I am known as many things, but you may call me Strider."

The jaws of the girls collectively dropped. They took a closer look, but could not make much out until Liz, who was closest, pulled his hood off. Then they saw in the firelight the face of the ranger that had become quite familiar from the movie. They began to wonder why none of them had noticed this before and looked to each other for some explanation. 

"Okay, is this before or after the fellowship?" Janet asked finally.

"How do you know of the quest?" he asked suspiciously.

*Okay, there isn't a person in our world who doesn't know about the quest,* Liz said irritably. *Just answer the question, Aragorn.*

"How do you know my other name?" he asked, growing more suspicious and allowing his hand to travel to his sword. 

"Liz, what did you say to him?" Kathy asked accusingly.

Liz looked wide eyed at him. She took a deep breath and wrenched her eyes from him, trying to come up with an explanation that he would accept. Nothing would come to her panicked mind no matter how she tried. 

"Lord," one of the rangers interjected, "I do not think it would be wise to attack little girls, no matter how much they may know. I doubt that they are a part of the remnants of Sauron's army."

"Alright, it's after the series," Janet concluded. "But that means…"

*Oh my god! We're in a fanfic world!* Liz exclaimed. *If Aragorn left his big castle type thing, then we aren't in the right world! We're in a fanfic world!* 

"What is a 'fanfic'?" Aragorn asked.

"A fanfic?" Janet asked curiously. "This isn't the right world? Nicole!"

"Hey! I tried, okay?" she said defensively. "So I didn't quite get the right one, but I was close enough to get us to a very similar world. What's wrong with her?"

Liz's tone was slowly disintegrating into a worried whine and she was waving her hands at each other , fanning her face which was scrunched up as she talked. *We're stuck in a fanfic! Who knows whose writing this! For all we know it could be a slash with Sam and-and-and Bill the pony!*

Aragorn grew more confused as he listened, though it was nothing compared to his companions who had come to watch. "What is a slash?" ha asked, though partially fearing the answer. For some reason, he had a feeling that this might clear something up.

Janet burst into laughter. Between what she had understood of what Liz had said, only the names Sam and Bill, and what Aragorn had just said, she understood what made Liz worried, but that particular pairing was very funny. "Sam and Bill? Honestly Liz, what are you thinking?"

"Sam and- EWWWWW!!!" Leigh screeched, just getting it now. The sound echoed into the forest and made the rest of the rangers to awaked rudely from their sleep with their weapons drawn. "Someone tell me Sam's a girl."

"Not exactly," Louise said with a hint of laughter in her voice. "Sam is one of the hobbits, remember?"

"And Bill is the pony," Ruth added.

"EWWWWWW!!!!" Leigh screeched again, more loudly that she completely understood it. "LIZ!"

The rangers lowered their weapons upon seeing what creature that was making the sound. What harm could a few unarmed females do to them, except make them go deaf with their wailing. They had feared it to be a new breed orc or troll.

"What are these creatures you bring to us who could wake the dead?" one of them asked. 

"Creatures?!" Louise asked warningly.

"Who be these maidens, Faramir?" another asked. "My liege would surely not bring back dangerous beings, but what be these females that dress so strangely and conduct themselves in such a manner?"

Liz let out a large sigh. *I hate being talked about when I'm right here.*

"I hate being talked about when I'm right here," Kathy muttered.

Aragorn smiled slightly at the scene. "Come now," he said loudly. "I will escort them all to Rivendell this night. The rest of you return to your beauty sleeps. You all need it."

"Great, this Aragorn has a sense of humor," Nicole muttered as the girls fell in and started their trek to Rivendell, unknowing of what other changes this odd fanfic world would offer. In the back of all of their minds, they what other changed this author would make to the world they thought they knew.


	3. Liz at Council

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it. Within reason. Assuming that you are reasonable.

A/N: This is becoming a very interesting story to write, as I haven't really come up with much along the lines of a plot quite yet. It's coming though, and I have a couple hints as to what it may turn out as in this chapter. Hints as in I basically hit you over the head with them. Yeah, on with my story.

They finally reached Rivendell, after much complaining, three days later. The rest of the Rangers had caught up long ago, the morning after Aragorn and the girls had set out, and slowed so that those stuck walking could keep up. The girls were just happy to have been able to ride their horses while they walked.

Liz had begun to pick up odd habits along the way. At night, she would wander into the forest and come out an hour or so before everyone had woken up. The girl her friends knew to be acrophobic began climbing trees to see the view and scout, though she needed glasses to see the overhead for notes. Her steps became more graceful and she could hear things before anyone else could. Also, her allergies to practically everything had taken a leave of absence.

Elrond was surprised to say the least to see that Aragorn had arrived with more than just a few from his court disguised as Rangers. The girls were of interest to all of those in Rivendell, the elves having never seen such strange people before. News of the strangers in their midst spread quickly and, by the time they were getting settled in the last house, not a soul within a mile did not know of them.

Liz stayed oddly apart when elves came to run errands for them or just to witness those who were so strange. They were all clearly of the race of man, but taller than any they had seen before, matching their own fair height. They changed into elven clothing, though most insisted on still wearing pants to dresses, in hopes that they might attract a bit less attention. It worked to an extent, but hey could not hide their speech or their behavior which was so clearly not of this world.

Liz was summoned to the council the afternoon after their arrival and the rest of her friends were left to wander the land of the elves on their own. The council was just as they had displayed it in the movie and she looked around in amazement at the resemblance. Even the pedestal was there, though what it would have been used for other than the ring, she did not know. There were very few people there to occupy the space, only Elrond, Aragorn, Faramir and a handful of elves. 

There were a few formalities to be observed before they finally began to start with the reason they were gathered. "Liz, I bid you to tell us the tale of what brings you here," Elrond finally said, bringing Liz back from where her attention had so easily wandered.

*Huh?* she asked, perplexed from snapping out of her daydream so suddenly. *Oh yeah. Well, basically I started speaking in elvish at some point between Desktop and Lunch three days ago and I still am. Nicole found a wormhole in the construction area of the school and we went through and found Aragorn and his, um… people and they showed us here.*

"You tell tales strangely," Faramir commented after having the entire tale translated to him. "Not at all like we tell them. I understood most of the words, but some of these perplex us all."

*Well, you talk funny,* Liz retorted under her breath, getting a small chuckle out of the elves who could hear her still. Louder, she said, *If you wanted a good story, you could have asked me to write one. That I'm decent at.* 

"Do not trouble yourself," Aragorn said. "We may be still able to figure out just what happened. Did you do anything unusual that day?"

*Nothing unusual,* Liz replied. *At least, nothing unusual for _me_ to do. I just memorized that first bit of the movie where Galadriel is talking.*

"You know Galadriel?" an elf asked. 

*Yeah, she plays a major part in the books and the mo…vies… Oh crap, I really shouldn't go into this.* The entirety of the council began giving her odd looks, as though she had begun divulging secrets they so desperately wanted to know, but in another language.

"What did she say?" a hushed voice asked from the bushes behind the council. They all managed to hear it and the council went very quiet, trying to hear more.

"I think they've heard us," a more carefree voice said, still quiet. 

*Pippin? Merry? Am I hearing this right?* Liz asked, recognizing the voices from the movie. A moment later, not two but four heads popped up, looking exceptionally innocent and bewildered. The hobbits scrambled up out of the bushed and tried to straighten themselves out.

"I had not expected to see you four for another three days," Elrond said at their appearance. "What has brought you hither in such haste?"

"We did not run into Tom Bombadil," Frodo explained. "We weren't trying to listen in. We were just passing by-"

"On our way to the kitchens," Pippin finished quickly for him.

Aragorn and Elrond exchanged glances and looked back to the hobbits with amusement. "I suppose you have heard all that has happened already," Aragorn stated. "No use ever trying to keep a hobbit out of a council they are not supposed to attend, it seems. Stay if you wish, or leave for the kitchens as your stomachs must surely bid you."

None of them left, not even Pippin, which surprised Liz greatly. They each took a spare seat with some help up and restarted the discussions immediately.

"Where do you come from?" Frodo asked. "Even though you speak in the fair tongues, you speak strangely."

*I come from a place where we know of your adventures with the ring,* Liz replied, becoming much more relaxed at the arrival of the hobbits. *It's a whole world renowned series and they're making a movie out of it.* She looked more closely at Frodo, making hi shift a little uncomfortably. *You know, you really do bear a remarkable resemblance to Elijah Wood.* 

"What are desktop and school?" Merry asked with interest.

*Desktop is a school subject and school is a glorified prison that our parents send us to so that people called teachers can stuff our head full of useless facts.*

"What's the food like there?"

*Do you ever think of anything _besides_ food, Pippin? Well, it's wonderfully junky and terrible for you. You'd probably like it. But I don't want to think about it right now, I'm starving.*

"A hobbit at heart!" Sam proclaimed.

*What brings you four here?* Liz asked.

"Well, we've come for a secret-ow!" Pippin said before Merry hit him upside the head.

*Meridoc Brandybuck, do not hit your cousin,* Liz said sternly. She could not hold the austere face for long and soon burst into laughter. *Sorry, always wanted to do that to someone. Now, a secret what?*

"There was to be a meeting tomorrow about a new threat and the rise of a new Dark Lord from the ashes of Isenguard," Elrond said with a bit of an annoyed sigh. He would think that these hobbits knew how to keep their mouths shut. "It is said to be almost as terrible as Sauron. We shall, however, not speak of that now. We must figure out what has caused your current ailment."

They sat a moment in a studied silence, pondering over what should be said to provoke some idea. Sam shifted uncomfortably and broke the silence. "Begging your pardon, Miss, but what are you?" he asked, stumbling over his words. Blushing slightly at the attention he had drawn he continued a bit awkwardly. "You see, you're tall as them elves, but you do not hold yourself the same. And I ain't never seen ears like yours before."

*Oh no you don't,* Liz said defensively, clapping her hands over her ears. *I've dealt with Ruth with this far too long to have to put up with it from you guys. I'm not anything but what you see, human through and through. Not an elf or whatever you think I am. Just a normal girl. Normal.*

The entirety on the council exchanged wary looks and turned back to the girl with her hands cupped defensively over her ears, allowing sound to still pass through her hands. Aragorn looked at her especially hard, forcing her eyes to meet his scornful ones that clearly told her that she was acting immature. There was nothing to fear here.

With a sigh of resignation she lowered her hands and pushed her hair behind her ears. *NOT pointed,* she said strictly, as though her words would either make them so or to convince the council that it was so. She knew, however that it was not. Her fingers had brushed the tips of her ears and they had grown a bit and now both had a slight point at the tip of them, enough so to be an elf of Shannara but not here. 

They all looked on in amazement at the odd, yet still distinctly elven, ears. Most were able to cover up their fascination and awe of them within a second or two, but some still gawked at them long after Elrond had begun his diagnosis.

"I am sorry, but you are indeed an elf of sorts. Perhaps where you come from elves come in a slightly different form, but to my observation you seem to be only half elven. You do not have quite all of the traits to be fully so and no true magic within you as elves should."

*Half elf, am I?* Liz asked defiantly. *Don't you get it? I can't be an elf! There are no elves in my world. Period. End of story. That means, no way for me to pick up the elf gene and become one in any way, shape or form. I am NOT an elf!*

Some of them looked on her in pity and others began to develop an odd look in their eye when they looked at her. "I am afraid that you may not fare well here," Elrond said sadly. "We are accepting of all people that come in peace, but we are still wary of those we are not familiar with. There are those who would seek to drive you out for claiming to be elven, yet appear so different from us."

*So you're kicking me out?* Liz asked with a tone in her voice that said that she would heed his warning and leave whether or not he denied this. *Great, I'll tell the others. We can go back home and I can just speak funny for the rest of my life. I don't want to do that,* she admitted with a large sigh. *They can go back, but I'm going to stay here and get fixed somehow. Maybe Tom Bombadil can figure it out. Or I could just follow that stupid voice in my head and hope I get somewhere eventually.*

"You have a voice in your head?" Merry asked with a careful glance. "Is that normal of people in your world?"

*Not that I know of,* Liz replied. *I don't think they'd want one anyway. It started and kept me up all night before all this happened. I was having a bad enough day and then I start speaking in elvish and now this whole elven prejudice thingy. If this doesn't stop, I may start to take this personally.*

"Now we're getting somewhere," Aragorn muttered under his breath. "Can you still hear that voice now?"

*Nope.*

"When did you stop hearing it?"

*It shut up during Socials, just before I told Ann that first part of Lord of the Rings movie script. It said something weird just before it went to, what was it?* Now driven to try and figure out this mystery, her hands began to move, waving between each other and not touching as her head stayed bowed in thought. 

*Got it!* she cried triumphantly after a few moments of this humorous routine. *It was, 'Peredhel, you're mine,' or something like that. Kind of weird, but it's a voice in _my_ head. What do you expect?*

Elrond took a moment to consider this. "Liz, I think you best return to the council tomorrow with your friends. There is nothing we can do for you currently, but we may yet be able to solve this problem."

Liz smiled wryly, trying to second guess this fanfic world and figure out just what they were about to throw at her as she departed. She knew quite a bit about the author already, or at least a bit about how their Lord of the Rings mind worked. Perhaps one of the other girls had been able to figure out more. She would have to get it out of them before they left for home.


	4. New Threat

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Okay, all I have to say is that I really want REVIEWS! This is going to turn into a more serious story, probably, so it should be entertaining. I hope.

"You are NOT sending me home _now_," Janet protested loudly at Liz's suggestion. She actually made it seem much more like a command.

*Look,* Liz said, looking at them sternly. There was an elf designated to translate for them within the house that did not mind the presence of such an odd elf. *You guys have already been here too long. Think about how much everyone must be missing you guys by now, and let's not forget all the school work you guys have missed. I can't go back, but you guys have to.*

"We don't _have_ to do anything," Kathy protested. Whether she was more upset about the prospect of going back to school or having to give up a land filled with incredibly good looking elves, no one could quite tell. 

"Yeah, I don't want to go," Leigh complained.

"You _have_ a boyfriend already," Louise reminded her. "You have no reason to stay here. You should go home. The rest of us will stay to keep Liz out of trouble."

Liz got a sudden idea that might throw them off and return home, if their reasons for staying were as she guessed. *Fine, you can come. I'm going to visit with the dwarves in the Lonely Mountain. Elrond says that maybe they can fix this.*

She smiled as she saw doubt cross all of their faces. _The truth comes out at last,_ she thought to herself in satisfaction as they warily looked to one another, rethinking their decision to remain if it meant leaving this elven paradise. None of them really wanted to do that, this was the place where they were safe and living a dream come true.

"I'll still go," Ruth said shakily. "I want some adventure, anyway. This place was starting to get a bit dull."

She got looks from everyone as though she had said something completely blasphemous. She cringed slightly under their deathly glares, but remained firmly rooted in her decision and reason for it, though her reason was a blatant lie. 

Liz swore inwardly at her bad luck. She could see a few of the others join in Ruth's decision, though no one else would ever say that this place was boring. She had so dearly hoped that this plan would work, that someone would break and just leave for home.

"We have to stay anyway," Nicole said from a work table piled high with miscellaneous papers. She put down the quill that she had finally learned how to use and sighed slightly. "The wormhole moved to somewhere in Mordor, and it's staying there for about three years. We have to go there if we want to go home."

"I still want to know how you learned all this astrophysics stuff," Janet remarked.

*Fine then,* Liz said, accepting defeat. *I wasn't actually going there anyway. I just wanted you guys to go home. We have been invited to a second council tomorrow to decide what to do and to find out more about this fic author.*

"I can't believe you lied to us like that!" Leigh exclaimed.

"Yeah," Ruth said, "but I think we'll forgive her. Now what about this author? I don't know anything about how this is any different from the movie."

*That's why you need to read the book,* Liz commented amusedly. *From what I've seen, whoever wrote this has read the books and seen the movie.*

"They read it? Oh yeah, Faramir. Aragorn has a sense of humor," Nicole added.

"I don't think they liked the ending to the book much either. Elrond is still here- What is wrong with you?" she asked, turning to Ruth who had her hands clapped over her ears and muttering something to keep out their voices.

"Don't tell me what happens!" she exclaimed to them. "I haven't read the books yet!"

*The elves here all know the tale,* Liz said, her patience beginning to get to her. *If you really want to know what happened, go and ask one of them. They're always telling stories around meal times. Oh, and Frodo has all of his fingers here and Pippin is his movie self.*

Ruth made a spasm to cover her ears and a noise of partial annoyance and partial rage. Liz surpressed laughter beneath a broad smile, as the rest of them managed to do. They were all sure to take note of how to bother her for later. 

The discussion of differences continued long into the evening, none really noticing that Liz had mentioned hobbits enough to question if they were here and none saw them that night at dinner amongst the laughter and mirth being spread amongst the room. Ruth spent the night listening to the tale of the ring as the elves knew it and Liz stayed to herself, often excusing herself for walks beneath the stars.

The next morning they were awoken by the translator, Celebwen. "You are all expected to attend the council today," she said as she arose them from their beds. "Where is Liz today? Has she gotten up and about already? It seems so early for those from where you come from."

"She's been a bit weird lately," Kathy said moodily as she got out of bed. Others had already done so and some followed her. 

"Why can't you invent coffee?" Janet asked helplessly as she took a drink of fruit juice from one of the cups on the table. "When is this council, anyway?"

*An hour,* Liz said brightly as she came in, fully dressed and wide awake already in a tunic and breeches. She had fallen in love with the elven clothing and styles as soon as she had arrived and now freely wore them, immersing herself in the culture. *You guys had better get ready quickly, though. The more exciting stuff happens before the council starts.*

These words could not make any of them move any faster at their task of readying themselves and they arrived at the council right on time, twenty minutes after Liz had. They were surprised to find that not only the expected array of elves, as well as Aragorn and the Rangers had attended the meeting, but there were also hobbits in attendance as well as Legolas Greenleaf and Gimli, son of Gloin. They had no time to question, however, as Elrond began.

"Most of you already know why you have been summoned, though some are new to these matters and must be informed. There is a new threat rising from the east that is abruptly becoming a threat too great to ignore much longer. We must neutralize it immediately, before the new armies it is raising becomes immense for us to deal with. You have been called upon because you have already faced the wrath of Sauron first hand and know of what happened with the one ring. The knowledge of that ring is vital because this new threat is seeking to forge it anew."

"We know why we're here," Gimli said gruffly. "What about _them_?" He gestured vaguely to the girls who were, for the most part, listening intently. 

"You're going to Mordor?" Nicole asked, making sure all this talk of the land in the east was indeed the right place. "We have to go there to get back home. And maybe find a way to fix Liz on the way."

*What do you mean _maybe_ fix Liz?* Liz asked with extra sarcasm. *That was the whole reason you brought us here in the first place!*

"What is wrong with her?" Legolas asked, seeing no problem with anyone knowing and speaking in elvish. 

Liz's friends looked at him incredulously. "She doesn't speak English!" Kathy exclaimed, stating what she saw as the most obvious thing in the world. "We have to fix her before we go home or else..." She left the end open, not for dramatic effect, but because she did not know what to say next.

"Is that indeed all?" a voice asked from behind them. An old man in a weather worn gray cloak stepped into the council area from the greenery that surrounded it. "That is a simple matter to solve."

"Gandalf!" many cried. The hobbits got up and mobbed him with hugs and words of greeting. It seemed that he was unexpected to all but Elrond, who only smiled slightly at his arrival. He took a seat once he managed to shake the hobbits and waited for the council to resume.

"I do not think it wise to take innocents into such a dangerous place," Aragorn said, looking at the girls as they shot each other serious looks not to laugh at term that he had used for them. "It would not be safe and they would only hinder our speed which is vital to the quest."

*Don't translate this,* she said quickly to the translator, not wanting her friends to hear her potentially insane idea. *Then you can just take me. The elves can do nothing to help me and I know, though Gandalf seems fairly confident, that he can't either.* She ignored Gandalf's snort. *I'm half elven now, I'll scout and be able to keep myself out of trouble if I need to. I don't particularly want to drag them into this, anyway. When it's safe to go, we can send the eagles back for them and bring them to the new wormhole.*

*It is not a good idea for any of you to face such dangers,* Aragorn retorted. *This is not a journey that will be like in the stories of old told round the fire, or however they are told in your world, but a serious quest. There will be much fighting and you will surely be in danger of being killed, untrained as you are.*

*How long could it possibly take for me to learn to use a bow or throwing knives? Since I got here, I have gotten better and better with all sorts of stuff that I couldn't do in my world unless my life depended on it. Now I'm here and my life does depend on it, so I will learn. And if you use that innocent little girl argument one more time, I will hurt you in a way that will have you down for a few minutes.*

Legolas let out a laugh. *She has spirit. Why not let us take her along, if she promises to take care of herself so well? If she becomes a hindrance, we can send her back on one of the horses to a safe place.*

"Then it's decided," Elrond said before Aragorn could figure out something to say in retort. He had liked Aragorn well enough for the husband of his daughter, but he could be so stubborn at times. "The new company of nine, in honor of the original quest for the ring and the second course to destroy it. You set out tomorrow, for it is best this time to make haste in your departure."

"What happened?" Louise asked, at a loss to figure out what had just happened. The rest of the council that did not speak elvish had similar looks on their faces and were trying to piece together the events that had just occurred without much success.

*Celebwen, don't tell them,* Liz said to the silvery hared maiden who looked as though she were about to do just that. She turned to her friends. *They wouldn't let me go,* she said, sounding as disappointed as she could. *They're taking Faramir instead.*

"Why would you want to go at all?" Leigh asked. "Look around! We have everything we need here."

*You already have a boyfriend,* Liz reminded her.

"No kidding," Kathy said. "Leave the hot elves to us."

Gandalf laid a hand on Liz's shoulder, startling her slightly. She snapped around to look up at the old man's kind face. "I still think there may be a chance to- what was the term you kept using?- 'fix' you. I do think that I could."

Liz smiled. *Go for it,* she said, sitting back into a seat with her arms crossed over her chest. *If I'm turned into a frog or something, though, I blame you.*

Gandalf said nothing more and proceeded to take up his staff and begin on a few spells. Liz's friends all watched in amazement as various spells were cast, some doing little more than tousling her hair slightly, some creating large colored whirlwinds that lifted her along with her chair up a few feet in the air. Not one of them had any effect.

*Knew it,* Liz said once Gandalf set his staff aside. *I'm hungry, who wants to grab a bite to eat?*

Laughing and joking, they spent the rest of the day discussing the oddness of Rivendell with all of these strange peoples about and how unfortunate it was that Leigh was not permitted to flirt with the elves. They enjoyed the food, but were beginning to feel homesick and hoping that it would not be too long before they could return to hamburgers and pizza from all of these natural foods. Even Ruth seemed to agree that she would probably give up all of this in an instant for a pizza, no matter how artificial and fattening it was.

A few of the girls, Janet in particular, had begun to get the feeling that everyone was in on a secret and they were not being told of it, though they all kept their thoughts to themselves until she fell asleep. Leigh woke up soon after with a dryness in her mouth to go out in search of water.

Liz came in a moment later, tired and looking a little dead on her feet. She looked ready to go out at a moments notice, wearing a travelers cloak and sturdy clothing for a long trek. She was muttering something to herself over and over, but, without Celebwen there to translate, Leigh had no idea what it was. Liz dropped a bag at the foot of her bed and fell asleep instantly with boots still on, unaware that Leigh was there at all. 

Leigh shrugged, thirst forgotten, and went back to sleep herself, thinking of how perfect this venture was, even if everyone kept telling her that she couldn't flirt with the hot elves. It wasn't like the fact that she had a boyfriend could stop her from doing anything in this hot guy paradise.


	5. Tag Along

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Shyte! I didn't get to do what I wanted this chapter. Meh, maybe the next one will present an opportunity, hopefully.

Liz woke early, just before the crack of dawn while everyone was still fast asleep. She slipped out of the small cottage noiselessly and breathed deep in the crisp morning air. The night before, Elrond had summoned them to get their new clothing and supplies for the trip and then Aragorn had pulled her off to get familiar with the weapons that she had been given. All she had managed to get through before he had let her go off to sleep was how to hold the bow and knife properly and how and where to wear them.

She checked for the knife at her side, hidden by her cloak and weightless as it hung about her waist. The bow was on her pack instead as across her back, as she had not wanted to worry about taking it off the night before when she arrived at the cottage and cut off even more of her sleep time. Her pack was no heavier than her back pack had been last semester when she had had to carry around two large binders and textbooks which were twice as heavy as well as whatever miscellaneous items she had not felt like removing from the bag to lighten it.

She arrived at the meeting place last, though only barely. They all acted rather gruff towards the female member of their party, none of them sure how long she would survive out there with them or if she would be able to do anything to help at all. Most had gotten it into their heads that she would only slow them down and be in need of rescuing every five minutes from some random bit of wildlife and act the part of the maiden in distress constantly throughout. 

Liz said nothing to the rest of them as she checked her pack anew and made sure that her quiver was completely full. She moved the bow to across her back, checking the string as Aragorn had shown her the night before, obstinate about doing nothing to disprove her place in the company.

They set out shortly after dawn had fully broke over the horizon and the morning birds had begun their cheery song. There was no one to see them off, having had said their goodbyes the night before. They had two ponies along this time for their supplies, neither of whom Sam was very sociable with. He did not want to get attached this time, in case he had to leave them anew. They were just along for supplies and, if the case came, to send Liz back to some safe haven.

"How are you back here, ma'am?" someone asked. Merry had trailed to the back to walk and chat with her. Frodo, it seemed, had come back as well to see what this new girl was really like and to translate.

*Bit bored, but other than that fine,* she said, looking up at the sky and breathing in deep the forest air with a throat that had not been this clear since before she could remember. The allergies which had once plagued her and would have kept her from venturing out into a place with so much greenery were gone here, which kept her mood up.

"If I know these quests, it won't stay that way for very long," Frodo said with a slight shiver. "I highly doubt that this will end up being like this, calm and peaceful, for much longer. Enjoy it while you can."

*Okay, I'll make a note. Quiet boredom with pretty landscape good. Action bad. Got it. When do we stop to eat?*

"She truly _is_ a hobbit at heart!" Pippin remarked, trailing back to join them at the mention of food. "What is in your pack? It looks big enough for one of the ponies to carry!"

*Really?* Liz asked curiously. *It's just a lot of food and a spare blanket, clothes, first aid stuff and yeah. Stuff.*

"I think they wanted you to come less than they wanted me to come the first time," Pippin remarked, remembering how being the youngest almost cost him his chance to go. "They never gave _me_ so much stuff to carry."

*It probably just seems like a lot because you're, um smaller. No offense or anything. Proportionally, it's probably about the same. I mean, this isn't any heavier than my bag last semester, and I carried that around for a few months.*

"No, Miss Liz," Sam said. "It's bigger than Mister Strider's pack, and he usually carries the most. You should let the ponies carry some of your supplies. They won't mind much."

*Nope, I'm not going to start doing that so soon,* Liz said with a strengthened resolve. *I can handle it until whole damn company accepts that I'm going with you and I'm not turning back on my own accord. Whoever packed my bag was either careless, or they wanted me to whine about too much weight to carry until you got fed up and sent me back. Now, can we talk about something else? It's better if I don't focus on the weight.*

The hobbits ended up telling tales of the Shire, including every possible detail that had spread and at least three different witness accounts, until they called a stop for lunch. Liz marveled at the fact that these four hobbits seemed to take this grave situation as lightly as her while the rest of the company had kept their heads bowed in a silent prayer without realizing it, hoping that it would not be anything like the last time they were all sent out by Elrond.

Soon after Liz finished her meal, far before the rest of them had, Aragorn pulled her away from the group and gave her a judging look. "I was against bringing you, but I think I may have been wrong about you slowing us down. That pack you carry-"

*Enough about the pack, already!* Liz exclaimed, not wanting to hear about how heavy it was compared to everyone else's anymore. *If you have nothing more to say, then I'll be getting back to the others.*

Aragorn smiled. Legolas was right, she did have spirit. "Did you say a proper farewell to your friends last night? I know that it must have been late by the time you finally got to the house."

*I wasn't intending on telling them, anyway,* she told him. *They would just follow. Well, some of them probably would, but they're so happy at Rivendell. I didn't want to bring them into this. I sort of just told them that Faramir was going to make the company nine.*

Aragorn was taken aback by this information. Surely she would have said goodbye to her friends, at least? But she had no for fear of them stepping into danger. There was much more to this girl than appeared. "Take out your knife. You don't know how to throw it yet."

Liz grinned at him, happy that he was going to drop all of the innocent girl stuff. She took out the knife and threw it up, letting it spin in air as it came back into her hand with the tip between her fingers. "Is this right?" she asked, secretly amazed at herself for not letting it fall straight through her palm.

They spent no more than half an hour on the lesson before they had to get moving again. The hobbits had come to watch her progress while the rest stayed behind to tend to the messes they had made due to the meal. It was in all of their minds that the hobbits had actually gone to watch because of it, but they allowed them anyway because no one knew how well Liz threw a knife and feared that it may be imbedded in them no matter where they stood to watch.

She was quiet the rest of the trek to nightfall. The hobbits continued in their stories and did not notice that their rapt audience often zoned out to look into the deepening trees. Something was not quite right out there and it was bothering her. It was almost as though there were eyes watching her, trailing them all and whispering secrets behind their back that they should know. It felt wrong.

None of them realized that they had been followed the entire way there by girls on well trained horses. Most were outraged at the fact that they had been lied to and left behind, though there was regret in their thoughts as they remembered what they had left behind. They had left Rivendell in haste, telling only Celebwen of their departure and leaving Kathy in bed, asleep still for one reason or another.

They had followed the company all day, Ruth able to make out the boot prints and horse prints of the company amongst all of the rest of the tracks left by every other being in the forest from atop the horse. They had stopped frequently to rest their muscles, none of which were quite used to riding a horse, and to eat what they had managed to bum off of the kitchens. They were sure, by Nicole's insistence, to pack as much as the kitchen chefs had said they would need for a long journey and found the reason that so many people over the years praised saddlebags.

They had managed to be quiet the entire journey, not talking for fear of being found out and sent back. They felt badly about not bringing Kathy along with them, but none really wanted at this point to be sent back to join her.

They finally stumbled on the lightly guarded camp after nightfall. Gimli was on watch on the other side of the camp, watching for enemies on the approach rather than from behind where they came. They left the horses a little way into the forest, having spotted the fire and deciding to approach on foot. They tread carefully among the sleeping forms, now unsure of what they should do.

Leigh let out a sudden, very high pitched cry of fright, somewhat muffles by her hands.

"What?" Louise asked, scared that they had been found out or were about to be attacked or something worse. She went over to her friend, as did Janet and Ruth, to see what had frightened her so.

She had stumbled onto Legolas, his eyes still opened and his hands crossed over his chest, looking somewhat like a corpse in the pale firelight. Janet let out a quiet laugh. Turning to Leigh, who now had sparkling tears in her eyes, she explained, "He's sleeping. Elves sleep like that."

Gimli made his appearance finally now, his axe in hand and ready to strike at what he had thought were petty thieves. Seeing that they were odd females, like that girl who had somehow managed to join the company despite obviously having no experience. These must have been those others that had come as well to help her fix her speech impediment. 

The girls looked at him, or rather at his axe, with wide eyes. The question of why wasn't he going insane and killing them all crossed a few of their minds while others hoped dearly that he would just drop the thing and realize that this whole this was a huge misunderstanding. All were hoping for some miracle to save them.

Tanya came out of the forest in a daze. She blinked and squeezed her eyes to try and force the haze from her mind and clear her head. She had done it again, she knew. She had been sleep walking or something and wandered off again. Perhaps she should start to worry about her newfound habit, or at least try to figure out what she did on these night time walks. With a deep breath, she went back to where she was to sleep, and saw the most peculiar scene.

*Shyte!* she exclaimed, using her favorite replacement for her most commonly used swear word. *What the hell are you guys doing here?! Gimli, put down the axe.*

Legolas stirred from his slumber and peered up at them all, a bit upset about being so rudely awoken. Pushing himself up to a sitting position, he asked, "Who are these new people?"

Janet finally realized through her muddled thoughts who it was that had caused Leigh such terror and did what she did not have an opportunity to do before. With a cry of, "LEGOLAS!" she promptly became a large ornament around his neck with a bit of a dive and a look of pure glee spread across her face. 

*Come on Janet, I've been able to restrain myself,* Liz commented with a broad smile across her face, happy that someone had finally done what she had been dying to do for ages. Still, it wasn't quite the same as doing it herself.

They had arisen half of the company now, everyone but the hobbits coming to see just what all of the commotion was about. A slight glimmer of laughter could be seen across Aragorn and Gandalf's faces, but they said nothing at Legolas' warning look. *How do I get her off?* he asked in elvish, not wanting to hurt the girl's feelings.

Liz came and managed to gently pry Janet from her favorite Lord of the Rings character. *You're blushing,* she said quietly to Legolas with a cruel smile while she was doing so, causing him to regain a cool outer façade a little bit too quickly.

Aragorn managed to restore order while leaving Legolas to deal with Janet himself. After about fifteen minutes of slight havoc, everyone managed to find a place to rest for the night and convince the rest of the company that was awake that they would settle the matter of the new people in the morning. Gimli just went to bed after Legolas offered to take watch in an attempt to distance himself from his admirer, too confused about the entire event to put much more thought into questioning anything that was happening. 

The morning came, a bit too soon in Legolas' opinion, and the forest awoke early with song. They gathered around the morning cook fire to discuss the events of the previous night and what to do with their new visitors. The hobbits were curious as always, though a little wary, and tried to pry as much about the girls as was safe. None of them had ever known anyone who would have actually tried something like that with Legolas and were not sure of what to think of them. They were, none the less, Liz's friends and surely not of too much harm. 

"This is not place for them, they have to go back," Legolas said, an eye flickering to Janet suspiciously. "Surely they will not be able to keep up with us on our trek. They will slow us down."

*Where have I heard _that_ argument before?* Liz muttered to herself.

"He is right," Gimli agreed, unwilling to let any more females to join in a quest that was not theirs. "And the places in which we shall venture will be far too dangerous for little girls to survive in. You would be safer to return to Rivendell."

"You let Liz come," Nicole pointed out in desperation. 

*Liz didn't intend on fawning over the one member of the fellowship that got her in constantly,* Liz said to herself. She had noticed, however, that none of her thoughts were relevant in this particular conversation. 

"Liz has proven that she can survive and keep up with the rest of us," Aragorn pointed out. "She also has to try and find someone to solve her problem of speech, that may not be found in conventional ways. It is better that she come with us now rather than possibly have to wait for an unknown period of time to find a new hope for a cure."

"We're coming and you can't stop us," Ruth said with a solid resolve in her voice and defiance blazed in her eyes. 

"What if we run out of food?" Pippin asked, having the knowing that this would be a major problem if they accepted more people. 

"We've got three saddlebags full of food," Leigh said. "We thought Liz might get hungry and eat all of yours." She smiled innocently at Liz's sour look towards her and returned a hopeful gaze to Aragorn.

To their surprise, it was Gandalf who made the final decision. "If you bring the horses, you may stay. We may need them yet and I do not trust you to stay put once you return to Rivendell. You all remind me a bit too much like a few young hobbits I once knew."

"Lucky number thirteen," Sam said softly with a bit of a smile that showed none of the irony of his words. He had counted in the newest members, but not noticed the disappearance of an older one.


	6. Vilya's Temporary Master

Disclaimer: I own everything you do not recognize.

A/N: Okay, I think I have a good idea for a new direction for this to take, and to give other people somewhat of a purpose. Tell me what you think.

Gimli spent the day cursing the bad luck of the number they now were. The girls were sensible enough to stay away from them and hang back with the hobbits for friendly conversation about their homes and were amazed at how, in some ways, they seemed so very similar. Janet constantly went ahead of their group and went closer to the front with Legolas, who conveniently went to scout ahead once she came too near. 

It was he who warned them of the orcs ahead only a mile away. He told Aragorn and Gandalf who were at the head and they stopped abruptly. Gimli soon joined them, asking about their numbers and how well armed they were. The girls and hobbits came up questioningly with the ponies and horses, wondering what the halt was for.

"You have to find a safe place," Aragorn explained. "There are orcs about and you are not safe. Liz would you… Where is Liz?"

They all looked to the rear of the party where she had last been seen and saw that she was not present. They shot looks around into the surrounding forest and could not find a trace of her anywhere.

"Don't bother with the girl," Gimli said as the moments grew without result. "We have more problems to deal with. What are we going to do with them?"

*There's a cave just a little ways east of here,* a voice said from the trees. Liz dropped down and straightened up, facing Aragorn. *They'll be safe enough there.*

Aragorn nodded his approval and instructed the girls to follow Liz. She led them through grown over paths and through the greenery of the forest, taking little note of the thorny creeping vines that snaked about the grounds to their thighs as a natural fortification and climbed up the trees to flower. The girls, however, noticed it as well as the oddest stepping stones that they could use to walk over them without fear of them piercing their skin.

"This forest is kind of weird," Leigh commented as they made themselves comfortable in the dusky cave. They dropped their bags against a wall and sat on a few stones that seemed to be placed around what might have past for a cook fire from the previous visitors. The place was otherwise bare in the manner of caves, lichen and moss consuming the outsides of the cave and the thorny branches hiding them from view.

"It is," Louise agreed. "Those prickle bushes just stop in front of the cave."

"And not to mention those rocks that just came out of no where out of them so that we could get here," Ruth added. "This whole place feels wrong."

Liz wanted to say something to them, to assure them that this was better than facing a battle, but she wasn't quite sure she believed it either. She would much rather have retreated to the treetops than to this strange place and watched all of the carnage and bloodshed. She scribbled a few words into the ground with one of the sticks that might have been used on a desperate dying fire.

"What's that say?" Janet asked, coming over to sit by her and looking oddly at the words she had written. She recognized it as the flowing and elaborate elvish script, it had been everywhere in Rivendell, but she had not a clue what it said.

Liz looked down at her work. _All will be fine. No worries._ They looked like normal English to her and there should have been no need to explain. She somehow knew that this was contrary to the fact and that she had not written it as she saw it now. She would have argued otherwise, though, had she been able to speak normally. With a depressed sigh, she removed her bow and quiver from her back and went to the cave mouth.

All seemed so very quiet, no creature stirred in this part of the forest that she could tell. The vines had begun to choke out all life smaller than it, but that there was still life for it to choke out told her that it was still young. Her ears went out to the battle that was surely being waged right now and heard the grunts of orcs that had detached from the battle growing louder.

Alarmed, she left the cave and climbed up above it, stepping on the vines as though they were a footstool and the vines accepting the weight without bending or breaking. She traversed them easily and made her way up into a tree to scout ahead and see the numbers of the approaching enemy.

Ruth looked around absently, wondering what Liz was doing, but knowing that she would be unable to tell them anything at all she did not inquire. A fleck of light caught a bit of metal and brought Ruth's attention to it. Going for closer examination, she saw a simple ring with a single simple sapphire set into it. Curious, she picked up the ring and felt an urge to put it on. 

She returned into the shelter of the cave as the orcs approached the beginnings of the creeping vines and searched began to search madly through her bag. She would not be able to hold them all off with only a knife alone. Surely there would be something in her bags that could help keep them all off, or at least stall them from reaching the cave. 

The girls all grew a little worried as Liz frantically emptied the contents of her bag onto the floor beside her and watched uneasily, trying to figure out how to ask what was wrong and get an answer. They saw everything leave the bag; clothes, a light blanket, food. Finally she stopped, though her bag did not seem quite empty yet, and drew out a belt filled with short throwing knives and a short sword. So this was the true reason her pack's weight equaled that of her backpack.

All watched, that is, except for Ruth. She stood where she was when she found the ring. Having put it on, a wind swirled about her, not allowing so much as a breath of it escape to alert the others watching Liz with a deep interest. She made noise, could not as the wind funneled the sound away as it inspected it's new master. Normally, it would not have to do this, but this new thing which had it was so very odd. It was not like it's previous elven masters, but a different type all together.

__

I suppose you shall have to do, the wind said to her, though she was sure the voice came from the ring. _I am called Vilya, and you are a strange creature. Misuse me and I shall seek my wrath upon you. Return me to a proper elf and I shall be most grateful._

These words confused Ruth beyond what she thought it might when she put on the ring. Had she considered that it might cause problems, she would have left it where it was,, but it was too late for that now. All she could do was bear it until she found a proper elf to bear it properly.

Now she turned to the group crowded around Liz and saw a glimpse of the belt of weapons that she had just taken out. "What's happening?" she asked, trying to figure out just what she missed while the ring talked to her. For some reason, it did not feel like a good idea to discuss that matter.

*Orcs,* Liz explained in a word, making a common gesture with both hands and making a face that normally meant monster. She went to grab the bow and arrows, seeing that they understood what she meant and silently thanking Tolkien for making the word 'orc' so close to the English of the word, and thrust them at Janet. Hadn't she said that she was very good at archery and had taught it before? Liz could only hope as she strapped the new knife belt onto her waist along with her old knife. 

Liz ushered the rest of her friends to the back of the cave and went back to the mouth of the cave with Janet and drew out one of her knives as she looked regarded the orcs chopping the vines carelessly out of their way as though they were nothing at all. The fact that none of the members of the fellowship were in sight was not a good sign.

Liz turned to Janet to try and gather what she could from her friend's set jaw. She could read little, Janet being fully set on all of the moving targets for her bow out there. A glimmer of battle thirst went past her face and fear would follow that wave, followed again by a wave of concentration, all succeeding each other so rapidly that she could hardly distinguish between all of them, unsure if she had even seen all of them.

Janet looked up at her and smiled grimly. "I never thought that I'd actually be doing something like this," she confessed briefly, trying to read Liz as Liz had done with her. "Let's get this over with."

*Let's hope we get out alive,* Liz muttered as she took aim and waited for the orc that seemed to be the leader to come close enough for a shot. He was bigger than the rest, barking orders that had begun to carry over to them, scolding and punishing those which got caught up in the thorny vines which they were chopping away.

She waited very patiently, and changed her mindset to cope with taking a life, something that she was by no means ready to deal with yet. She turned the battlefield into a video game within her mind, with badly animated graphics. Just a little closer now and he was in range, and her mindset completely remade.

She threw the knife with stunning accuracy, as though she had been doing it all of her life. It shot clean into the thing's throat and it fell over a few seconds later, a stunned look across his face. The orcs around him looked very nervous about the advance, hesitant about continuing. They did so anyway, finding that they cared more for taking out the residents of the cave than they did about their own life. 

Janet hesitated a bit, not truly wanting to do this, before releasing an arrow. It caught an orc right in the eye and he fell immediately as more took his place. They moved more slowly now in their advance, worried about attack as they tried to clear the way for their troops to get through. All of those who had been clearing the vines were now dead, either shot or had a knife protruding from themselves. None of the orcs would go near those axes they had been using, as any who picked them up got picked off one by one. 

All trapped in the cave saw that both Janet and Liz was growing low on ammunition and it would not be soon before the orcs realized this as well. They began to scour the sticks and stones to find something that resembled arrows for Janet, but knew not what to do for Liz. 

Ruth began to get the oddest of sensations as she wiped away a small stone in the corner of the cave. The ring knew her need to help and was trying to respond. Unsure if her decision was wise, she let it take control of her. She felt herself receding into her mind as her body changed into that of a true elf of this world they were in which was suited to use the powers of the ring. A cool, welcoming wind flowed from her and sent messages to the winds outside before fading back into the air.

As she came back into herself, she wondered just what the ring had made her do and if it was to benefit their side. She walked up cautiously to the mouth where Janet and Liz stood, wide eyed in bewilderment at the events on the other side of the field. A whirlwind had formed, sweeping back and forth slowly through the orcs. It had picked up all of the branches that they had cut away, the thorns if not the entire branch often scored deep and stayed there in the flesh of the soldier it hit. Every so often a glint of metal would come out of the swirling mass and fall into a place in the mass of thorny vines.

The orcs were smart to only try and fight it for a few minutes before realizing the danger and retreated into the safer forest. The whirlwind followed them, scoring many hits before they were fully under the lower tree cover and safe from its pursuit. The curses they uttered carried back to them and made it evident that they believed a wizard was with them and a stronger one would soon come to get them.

Ruth said nothing and had the same amazed look as the rest of them, surprised that the ring had managed to do that and a bit worried about what might happen to her body if it were to do it again. Had she truly become an elf in that instant that the ring had it's way with the wind? She feared she may never know and that picking up the ring might have not been the best idea, despite the results. 

Aragorn found them in the cave half an hour later. They had been in the middle of a discussion over theories as to what might have happened. Nicole was actually in the middle of disproving Louise's theory of why it could not have possibly been a freak accident when he cleared his throat loudly to make his presence known.

Most of the girls jumped and turned to look at him as though he might have been an orc that had made it's way through the thorns. He looked at them inquisitively and asked what had happened to have caused them to be spooked so. He had seen no prints, no bodies and no debris of the fallen vines that the orcs had cut away when he approached as all evidence of the battle had been swept away by the miniature tornado.

Janet gave her account of the battle with the orcs, having seen the entire occurrence from the start of the firing to the end of it. Liz stayed mostly silent, putting in only a word or two where Janet missed some small detail of their tactics. The part where the wind turned on the orcs was especially surprising to Aragorn, having seen and heard many things in his years but never that. Shaking his head in quiet disbelief, he decided that it was better that they got back to camp before asking any more questions. 

They climbed over the precarious vines to the first step precariously with Liz's help. She still stood atop the vines as though they were solid ground, her feet not being punctured by the tips of the thorns. After they had all gotten onto the first stone and moved onwards, she followed quickly after them, keeping her eyes open on the forest in case the orcs came back. Near the edge of the vines, she caught a glimpse of metal reflecting in the sun and cautiously made her way towards it with a knife in hand. Upon reaching it, she found it not to be an enemy, but a pile of the knives that she had used and them some, as well as two quivers worth of arrows, all clean of blood or dirt. 

Eager to not lag far behind, she put many arrows into the quiver that had been returned to her from Janet and refilled her knife belt. With the rest, she tried to carry as much as she could in her hands, only ten arrows in one hand and three knives in the other, before running ahead to catch up with the main group a little way ahead of her, smiling at her bounty.

Aragorn showed them to where their camp had temporarily been set up beneath a rock which had grown into the earth over many years. There, the wounded were treating themselves and helping each other with bandages. None of them had incurred any major wounds, the most serious being Sam with an arrow graze across his skull. The girls set aside their things and most helped prepare food. Liz and Janet, however, went to help to tend to the wounds, Liz because she had a feeling that she would need to know how to properly fix a bandage by the end of this trip and Janet because Legolas had open cuts to tend to.

*You should have worn one of your pots,* Liz remarked as she wound a length of cloth around Sam's head to help clot the steady drip of blood and to keep it from infection. *They might have saved you from this.*

"I should have, Miss," he said with a slight tinge of embarrassment in his voice. "I didn't think about it at the time. A little tighter, please."

Once the meal was ready, they were all tended to and gulped down the jerky-like meat and cheeses down hungrily, and they all traded tales of what had happened to them. Most astonishing, besides the orcs ability to allow hobbits to lead them off of a cliff, was the girl's tale of what happened to them. The fact that they had held their own against soldiers, even if they were orcs, before some odd phenomena saved them was enough to make any member of the company that once had reservations drop them and accept the girls as a formal part of the company without question.

Ruth fiddled with the ring absentmindedly as they began to set off again, trying to get as far as they could before the sun set. She had told no one of the ring, though the way Gandalf shot odd looks in her direction made her suspect he had an idea of it.


	7. Caradhras and Narya

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Grr, I can't do the thing I wanted. Oh well, I'll get over it. ANYWAY, in response to one of the questions I got, I left Kathy in Rivendell because I needed to get rid of a character. There was simply nothing for her to do, so I left her behind.

They were almost at the edge at the mountain which had defeated the fellowship before. Caradhras loomed over them eerily that night, the snow light on the tip and reflecting the purest of white into their eyes, reminding the previous fellowship of it's failure to cross it last time they tried. 

They slept fitfully on the ground, having little problems finding a place to camp and still remain relatively safe from hunters, staying in the same place where last time they were plagued with the crows of Saruman. Legolas stood on watch this night, glad to have a bit of peace to himself until someone relived him, finally able to shirk the girl, Janet, who seemed to be infatuated with him. He had seen it in all of the girl's eyes when they looked at him. Perhaps he should have tried a little harder to keep the girls out of the journey. 

He heard very faint and quiet footsteps crunching on loose rocks behind him where the rest were sleeping. He turned to look and saw nothing out of the ordinary in that direction. With a slight shrug, he attributed it to some small animal trying to see if they had left out any scraps and turned back with a last look to the sleeping forms.

Something odd made his head snap back to the sleeping area. Something was out of place, but what? Again he studied the sleeping forms, taking note of each of them one by one. Aragorn, Gandalf, Gimli, the hobbits, Janet, Liz…

That was it. Liz was not asleep, not in her bedroll. He had taken a liking to the girl, finding her unusual situation a bit comical because of her distress and seeing the magic in her that Elrond could no longer see without the ring. He was a half elf already, so that made it easier for him to miss what was buried so deeply.

Checking around one last time with eyes and ears, Legolas went out to try and find the girl. She could not possibly know what was out there, she had never been out in these parts before. This was also most definitely not the time to go exploring through uncharted lands with so many dangers that awaited in the night. Not that she was entirely unable to protect herself, but she only had so many throwing knives.

He started where he had first heard the leaves crunch and followed her trail, very obvious among the fallen leaves. The land had taken on an unnatural calm that worried him. This place should have had at least the cry of attack from predators or the dying yelp of captured prey, but nothing. 

He spotted her a few minutes later, standing in the middle of the open field with a sparrow flying away from her. That was odd in itself, as sparrows did not inhabit these parts. Something else very odd was happening as well, however. A song drifted through the air, light and full of life that made him think of open fields. The earth around Liz awoke, new greenery springing to life out of nothing but hard rock and moss. Flowers were in full bloom, coldly colored in the moonlight and dancing to her tune. 

The song turned cold, the opposite of what it had been and the life returned to the rock from whence it came, leaving no trace of her work. Her song ended abruptly as the last speck of grass returned into the mass and rock and she began to turn back to look at a spot above Legolas, her eyes unseeing as she began to walk back up the hill. 

Legolas retreated back to his post, deciding that he had been gone too long, to ponder over this matter. Those who could bring about life as quickly as they took it were always around, but those who did so by the moonlight so uncaringly were considered very bad luck to have around. They always attracted unwanted complications, as she had already proven by the appearance of her friends.

Liz trudged back up the hill, stopping about half way to her destination with the breaking of her trance. She shook out her head and breathed deep the cool night air, trying to dispel the dizziness. She was sleepwalking again, wasn't she? How did she manage to get this far with Legolas on guard? She made her way back up to camp, growing more tired with every aching step. What had she been doing, lifting boulders?

With a slight sigh as she went towards her bed, she saw Legolas perched atop a rock keeping watch. Deciding that she needed answers now, she went over to him and sat down on the ground next to the rock. *Why did you let me get out that far?*

*Why did you go out in the first place?* he asked, an edge in his voice as he responded in his own language.

*I don't know,* Liz admitted with a bowed head, her eyes studying the dust as it blew in the gentle breeze. *I've been sleep walking, or something like that, a lot lately. Since I got here, come to think of it. I just woke up a quarter of the way up this hill and don't know how I got there. I don't suppose you have any idea of what happened.* Her voice had a glimmer of hope that shone through the contemplation and worry that was plaguing her.

He glanced sideways at her questioningly. *I saw you bring the earth to life with a wonderful song and commit it back to the ground again with a different one,* he said with a hidden sharp edge which Liz could not pick up as her mind grew more tired. *Do you not remember?*

Liz laughed softly, her eyes beginning to droop. *Good one. I might have believed you, except that I can't sing. And I have no magic, Elrond said so. Remember?* She let out a large yawn. *I'm going to sleep. See you in the morning.*

She passed by Aragorn, who was awake to relieve Legolas of his duty, and fell asleep before her head hit her rolled up cloak. Legolas watched her go, and then turned to Aragorn whose eyes were those of one filled with questions. "We have to keep a closer eye on that one," he said simply before heading to his spot to rest.

The morning brought a rushed breakfast and they began to move as soon as the last piece of gear was packed up. They were to reach the mountains by the end of the day, hopefully, and they would be through the pass in a week if the weather was not altered by some force beyond them. Gandalf and Aragorn seemed confident that they could manage it this time around at least, if no one else did. 

All of the girls had been instructed in basic fighting with swords during their stops for lunch and before they went to bed for the night by Aragorn, and the hobbits after they found out how timid most of the girls were with the weapons, since after their encounter with the orcs. They were careful not to work them too hard, so they would not be sore for the next day's journey. Janet, Liz and Louise were the quickest to pick it up, while Leigh still backed away as soon as someone hit the blade. They let Sam work with her, more patient after raising daughters of his own. Ruth and Nicole ended up often pairing up for sparring while a Pippin and Merry stopped them once in a while for correcting grip, stance and offering pointers.

Overall, the girl's training proved to be a source of enjoyment for all of the members due to the fact that they had practiced more than the hobbits ever had and were now probably close to their own level. All, that is, except for Leigh who could not seem to get the hang of hitting another person with a blade.

This would be their last night of practice, the Caradhras hovering over them somewhere beyond the mist. They were practicing now on the slopes and Sam was growing impatient with his student, finding it harder and harder to make Leigh do anything. He went to her friends to try and find some solution to the problem.

"Here," Louise said, picking up an strangely shaped branch. It was small and had a small hook in the end of it, making it look like a hobbit sized field hockey stick. "Use this to trip her."

*Oh, body check her first, then trip her as she's getting up,* Liz suggested, noticing Frodo was on hand. *That should get her mad enough to use the sword. I think.*

Sam followed their suggestions, first knocking her to the ground, then tripping her as she got up. Leigh became infuriated, forgetting that she was anywhere but on the field hockey field in the middle of a game. She took the sword and swung it at his side. Sam was quick enough to use his sword to block and smiled in satisfaction. "Can you do that again without me having to do all that again, Miss?"

Everyone went back to their own sparring partners and managed to get in a fair amount of practice in before they turned in once more for the night and awaited the morning to come along with the defeat of the mountain. 

The girls held a quiet conference for a few minutes before they found themselves yearning for sleep to discuss what more they knew of this fanfic author who was writing this story. Ruth still said nothing about the ring as they all figured out what they knew of the differences and the similarities between the original books, the movie and where they were presently.

Aragorn was on watch that night and, upon Legolas' request, kept an eye on the members of the camp as well as on the path heading up from the mountains. He saw Liz leave in the middle of the night, not moving the same as someone who had been practicing with a sword only a few hours earlier. He did not pursue and she returned half an hour later weary and with slumped shoulders, wobbling on her feet as she trudged back down the mountain path and fell seemed to fall literally to sleep.

The next morning, they wrapped as many cloaks around themselves at they could, becoming as well protected from the snow and cold as they could as they embarked across the Caradhras. "How bad to you think the snow will be this time, Gandalf?" Aragorn asked as he let the two horses that had borne the five girls to them originally go back to Rivendell.

"It will become unbearable around noon," Nicole answered, "with the snow not letting us see past an arm's length, but we'll probably pass a cave about a half an hour before that, at about the same time that someone says that the path is going easy on us because there will be a break in the storm." She looked around at the odd looks at her uneasily. "What? I read a few things on weather predictions, statistics, the coincident factors and looked at a few of Tolkien's maps and papers."

*We underestimated her,* Liz said to Janet. Though she could not understand the words, Janet smiled a bit and nodded in agreement.

The path was much the same as the original members remembered it, waist deep in snow and very much intimidating. Legolas and Liz took up the front, able to walk on snow with little problem, and scouted ahead. It was a strange thing for Liz, to finally fulfill one of the purposes that she had promised so long ago at a place that had beaten them before. It was also that Legolas seemed to not need anything to keep himself warm, while she was still bundles up in three layers of cloaks to keep out the cold.

As Nicole had predicted, half an hour from noon Gimli had proclaimed that the mountain was going soft due to the lack of snow and wind impairing them. About a minute later, Legolas and Liz found the cave that she had said would be there. Against some of Gimli's protests that it was unnecessary and that Nicole could not possibly be so right about such things, they retreated into the cave and waited out a terrible spasm of the storm in there. 

It was a few hours before they could come out again to see the moderately terrible snow fall once again. Aragorn first consulted Nicole, finding her information about weather matters to be proven true, before urging them to continue. They trekked through the snow which buried them up to their hips, the taller people doing what he could to clear a path. The hobbits could not see over the snow by any means and were put atop the horses. Even Gimli was having problems, only his head above the nearly impassable snow. 

Another well placed cave made itself evident an hour before sunset, or what could be considered sunset. It was more like the sky lost the light and all that illuminated the land was the vast snow. They could only look out at the vast whiteness for a short time, however, as Nicole advised that they block the cave entrance with snow to keep in the heat from their pitiful fire.

"Nothing can get us in here," Gimli agreed gruffly, still not happy about being, as he had put it, willingly buried alive. His eyes constantly flicked over to the wall of snow that blocked their escape. "There isn't a creature alive stupid enough to try and get through that pass in these conditions."

*Maybe we shouldn't be worried about the ones that are alive,* Liz suggested quietly, her ominous message striking some harder than others. 

"Think about it like this," Merry suggested. "At least tonight we all get a full nights sleep with no guard duty!"

"You're just happy because it was your turn," Pippin said to him. Merry only smiled back.

Long after most had retired to their slumber, Louise poked at the fire, staring into the dying flame as the cave gradually darkened. Liz went to join her, finding herself an insomniac that night, and offered a quiet presence amongst the quiet snores around them.

"When are we gonna get back?" she asked quietly, momentarily forgetting that Liz could not exactly respond with any answer at the moment. "This is all great and all, but I want to go home."

Liz pointed to herself, and then stuck up two fingers. _Me too._ Louise smiled, finally being able to speak to her somewhat without a translator. "But you can't go back until you can talk again, huh?"

Liz spread her hands and shrugged with a bit of a smile that said it all. If she had to, she'd go back like this. Louise returned her eyes to the fire, remembering her family and friends that she left for a trip that she thought was no more than a game that wouldn't last longer than the rest of the lunch hour. 

Louise rose to the wall with a stick in hand. If she was to be stuck in this strange place with so few of the comforts of home, she could still draw in her spare time. Having left her backpack at Rivendell, she now took a stick to the wall of snow to doodle until weariness overtook her. She found the snow to be a better palette than the dust and dirt had been and she began on an anime girl's face, doing it in near darkness because of the low firelight.

She was just finishing the last stroke of the hair when she hit something odd in the snow. Curious, she dug at it a bit and found a small bit of metal, a small ring with a single ruby gem set in. She fixed her picture, replacing the snow where it should be, and took the ring closer to the almost dead fire to inspect it closer. Liz was no longer there, probably having gone to sleep, so she could do this without someone looking over her shoulder or wanting to help. It looked so simple, almost like one of the rings you might get as a prize from the dentist when you were little, and yet it was so elegant and the setting of the gem was not visible. She gently put it on her finger, the urge to do so becoming great and her tired mind not wanting to question it.

The flame before her exploded, becoming a roaring fire, sending light far to the very edges of the cave and illuminating every little nook and cranny and sending warmth out to dispel the freezing cold that had taken the air. Louise just stared, finding herself at a loss and unable to speak as eyes appeared within the flickering flames to regard her. The fire crept closer to her, moving of it's own accord as a few licked at her boots and bare hands.

Louise found herself becoming more and more uneasy. She did not particularly like the idea of the fire taking on a mind of it's own and moving without so much as a breeze within this dingy hole in the side of the mountain to explain it. Maybe it was the ring, in this land of magic it just might have been, but how?

__

What a strange creature you are, a voice commented within her head. Oddly enough, she could sense that it came form the ring. _Well, better than that bungling old wizard at least. I most certainly would prefer not going back to him. I suppose I shall keep you. I am called Narya, and I will help you if you keep me from that old fool traveling with you._

With a nod, the ring's presence faded from her mind. She tired convincing herself that it was no more than a dream as she went back to sleep, feeling a new warmth from the fire. She spotted a shadow moving against the far wall and decided it was no more than a figment of her imagination as she saw a bird escape through a hole in the wall. With no more delay, she fell to sleep to make these imaginings stop.

Liz shook out her head, finding it harder to let the dizziness pass this time with such a warm and bright atmosphere. When did that happen? Turning, she saw the fire ablaze, heedless of the meager fuel it had to keep it going. That was weird in itself, but she found weariness overtaking her and no did not allow more questions to come to her as she fell deep into her slumber.

The oddness of the fire puzzled and welcomed everyone the next morning. None really wanted to question too far into the wonders of the fire that brought them the last shred of heat before their trip and had dried out all of their cloaks during the night. They were even a little sad to bid it farewell as they began on their way out. 

Nicole had predicted weather conditions no worse than usual the previous night, but insisted that morning that it would be far worse. "Considering the fire phenomenon, the mountain is going to try and bury us alive in snow. The ponies will have to be in the middle if we want them to survive the trip. The snow is going to be about a foot deeper than it was yesterday and we won't be able to stop for food this time."

Grudgingly, they broke through their snow wall which had held in the heat for so long to see the flurry of snow whip past them so fiercely that they might have been rocks being thrown at them. They bundled up even more than they thought they would have to and they began on the last leg of the pass. The snow swirled and settled chest high, now over Gimli's head, and they moved at a snails pace despite their impatience to get through. 

Liz was nearly blown off of the mountain at one point thanks to a strong wind. She managed to clutch onto the snow on the cliff edge and not look down into the nauseating depths of the mountain while waiting for Legolas to help her back up. Her hands were frostbitten after that, unable to grip or do anything useful. Still she continued on her scouting until Legolas found the edge of the pass. 

Overjoyed, Liz rushed back to hurriedly tell the others that the end was near enough to smell it before rushing back to see the end for herself. It was literally a curtain where the snow faded into a gentle snowfall for a few feet and stopped all together in the next few. Cries of joy and triumph rang throughout the company as they finally came through the curtain of snow to defeat the mighty pass of Caradhras. 


	8. Galadriel's Domain

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or Xanth.

A/N: Okay, a quick question for everyone. Should there be a love plot between one of the girls and Legolas? That is all, except for a slight question of enemy, but I think I have an idea for it.

They were quick to begin again on their way after treating the many ailments various members of the company had picked up along the way. A few had their eyes frozen shut and there were more with the problem of frostbite. Nothing was too serious and the worst of the cases could easily be cured in Lothlorien where they were to seek the advice of Galadriel.

They traversed the marsh terrain with considerable discomfort until nightfall, when they managed to find the marsh solidifying into soil. Cold and wet from the mud they had spent the day traveling through, they slept unfitfully, but happy that they were out of the knee high mire at long last and they had the fire going to keep them warm.

They checked their supplies the next day before setting out once more. They were getting to Lothlorien just in time, as the food supplies were running low after the majority of the food packed at the bottom of the packs of the ponies had been ruined in the marsh. 

They were this time welcomed into the woods and not assumed trespassers as before. The original members of the company were greeted with familiarity and the new ones with respect and curiosity. The elves that met them refrained from asking questions as they led them into the heart of the wood to Galadriel's domain, without this time the precaution of the blindfold. 

They made it up the high ladder of the white tower into the chamber where Galadriel and Celeborn stood, awaiting them with curiosity and joy in their eyes as they looked at the group. Part of it was the fact that this held many memories for all of them and in part that it was relived better than before. None of their members had been lost in the process of the journey and possibly lost forever. 

The chamber where they stood resembled a mix between the one described in the books as well as the one in the movie, lighter in coloring and darker in mood than those who had seen the movie had thought it should be. Galadriel stood in the center at the back wall, no chairs to sit in here, with her white robes billowing about her delicately, staring deep into the minds and hearts of all gathered before her.

"This is a much changed occasion," she said, her voice musical and deep, tone lighter than last they had met. "So like the last when we met, yet much is changed. Glad are the hearts of all present to see Gandalf this time present and not cast into the deepest shadows of Khazad-Dum. Foreigners of these lands are unusually well schooled in our ways and have found their way into danger, as our dear hobbits have done before them."

"They are trying to return home, Lady," Gandalf put in. "These are truly strange times that we are facing, where those who have no magic of their own can travel between worlds where the Istari have always been unable so. I would have never imagined the troubles we face now to ever come. Do you know what enemy is trying to forge the one ring anew?"

Galadriel looked deep into the eyes of Gandalf, as though conversing with him without words but with looks that each held a sacred meaning. Celeborn spoke all the while, but none heard his words through the battle of wills that was passing. Something was happening between them, but no one dared looked. Rather, they felt the argument as the tension in the room rose and fell.

Buy that is a matter we may discuss in the morning," Celeborn said as the two broke eye contact, each looking pleased with themselves. "It has been a long trial for all of you, especially the passage of the Caradhras. Some of you have yet to have your wounds treated and all of you need rest now."

Galadriel's eyes roamed, looking to all of them in turn. Aragorn, Legolas and Gandalf were able to withstand her glance the longest, the rest shying from it in a respectful matter. Liz winced at it, closing her eyes tightly as though ridding herself of an inner evil that caused her pain. 

"Yes, it is time for you all to rest now. Your journey has been long and it will be longer still. Take refuge here, where Lothlorien can protect you."

They left in single file, descending the ladder in solitary reflection on the words that flooded their minds. For those who had never endured this before, they were left with a feeling of something crawling on their skin and their minds filled with involuntary thoughts of home. 

Those with worse cases of frostbite were quickly tended to once they were firmly on the ground. The rest were led to a small cottage where they could all spend the night, girls with their own room. As soon as they were all joined, they were given food and drink and they ate in quiet, not quite knowing what to say of their own experiences and deciding to keep themselves quiet. 

The girls met in their room for a conference on what more they had learned, though it turned out not to be much. Still, all they knew was the fanfic author who had made this world had both read the books and seen the movie. They had decided to give Aragorn a sense of humor and Celeborn a smaller part than in the books, and yet larger than that in the movie. They were trying to mesh what may not be fully able to be meshed.

Finally, finding that their failing attempts to figure out the author's style and strategy with this story were futile, they fell into slumber. They found themselves thankful that Aragorn had decided to give up on lessons tonight and just leave them with another day off of it in this peaceful place.

Galadriel wandered through the gardens, this time not intent on showing someone a vision, indeed she no longer could do so without Nenya resting on her finger. Instead she wondered about the mind of the girl that had so quickly looked away from her gaze. Her mind was not the only one there, something else was in there. She knew her dilemma without having to ask, and now knew how she was to fix it. Rid the girl of the other presence in her mind and she would no longer speak and write in a foreign tongue. The odd thing about it was that she did not seem to know that the other presence was even there.

She saw a bird, small and delicate but not of her lands, fly towards her from below. She managed to stop it, beckoning it to her in such a way that it felt compelled to. "What brings you here, creature of the west?" she asked in the bird's language.

"I'll tell you none of it, elf wench," the bird spat at her. "It be no business of yours." It flew off quickly, gaining height and distance from her at an increasing rate lest it be caught again. 

Galadriel watched as the bird flew away, puzzled at it's curt manner and the words that it spoke. No creature had ever spoken to her as such before, and it puzzled her that one would do so now. Her eyes traveled from the horizon where it had disappeared to the ravine from which it came. A girl stood there, eerily still and unmoving amongst the quivering trees and slight ripples within the waters.

Liz shook her head slightly and breathed deep the cool night air to clear her aching head. Looking around, she knew that she had blanked again. Leaning against a tree for support, she took in her surroundings. It was within a ravine, a small pond surrounded by trees made it seem like a miniature paradise. The walls were shallow, easy to get out of and the water was clear enough to see the bottom, even with only the light of the moon and stars to show the way. It would be great for swimming in.

__

We don't have bathing suits here, she reminded herself, spoiling her fantasies of doing something that might make her feel more like she were at home. She looked longingly up into the tree and sighed as her imagination settled on something she had once read in a book. 

__

If this were Xanth these trees might have bathing suits. The thought made her smile and tear her eyes away from the tree to look for how she get here. As she went along the shore of the pond she touched each tree, dubbing it a shirt tree, shoe tree, pie tree, or anything of the like to keep herself from thinking about how lost she could possibly be until she found a slope that would lead her up to higher ground. 

She saw a lady in white, Galadriel, there watching her curiously. She smiled slightly and dipped her head respect, unsure of quite how to react before her. After a moment of silence, and the awkward task of not meeting her eyes which was normally the natural thing for her to do, she asked, *I don't suppose you know how to get back to the cottage?*

The lady smiled ever so slightly that Liz wondered if she had imagined it and turned to walk. Liz followed her until their temporary home was in sight and relaxed at the sight of it. She had taken her eyes off of Galadriel for a moment, and now when she looked back to her to thank her she was not there. With a bit of a shrug, this was a magical world after all, she made her way back to the house.

People spoke from within the rooms where the original fellowship was to be resting. Almost all of them were still awake at this hour, discussing things pertaining to her. She heard Gimli's gruff voice mention how unnatural it was that she would flinch so at Galadriel's gaze. From there people tended to take sides, taking from their own experiences in the past.

*If you wish to discuss me, do so when I am present next time,* she said loudly through the door and proceeded to her own room, wondering herself why Galadriel's gaze had caused her pain earlier. As she fell onto the pillow she heard a door shut from elsewhere before falling to sleep.

The morning following they were all generally very quiet. No one of the original Fellowship really wanted to associate much with the girls and it created an odd tension in the room. Gandalf and Aragorn announced that they would be staying for a few days to rest and try and gain more information, and no one really spoke much at all after that.

*Okay, I'm sick of this,* Liz said finally, breaking the quiet as breakfast wound to a close. *Legolas, help out for a sec?*

He grudgingly got up and went over to them, annoyance in his eyes over having to listen to her because of her predicament. He was just glad that she made it quick, telling her friends through him that there was a place to go swimming near here and they could probably spend the day there.

They readily agreed to this and were out in a few minutes, leaving behind unnecessary items and setting off for the pond. They all had the felling that the rest would be talking with Galadriel about their quest and whatever else was happening in the lands and did not really want to be a part of it. They wanted only time to be normal girls their age and hang out without having to deal with problems too big for them. 

They were wondering what to do about swimming garments when they came to the slope into the ravine when they saw the strangest sight. There were garments and food growing in the trees, not a thing that any of them had ever suspected would have happened. Curious, they followed the line of trees to the last one in the line, the one Liz had came out of her blanking against, to find it filled with bathing suits. 

"This is weird, even for here," Ruth commented offhandedly as Liz went up the tree to harvest a few suits in their sizes. Eyeing the trees suspiciously all the while, they said little else as they changed in private caves covered by bushes and vines. 

They found themselves quite eager to dive in, not being able to have regular bathes and showers and finding this the perfect substitution. They spent the day until noon swimming and splashing, having fun as they would have normally done and forgot about all of the problems that plagued them here. They stopped for a quick lunch break, harvesting a few pies from a pie tree uneasily and finding them to be more than adequate. They ate on a blanket harvested from a bush and found towels to dry themselves off with as well.

They were quick to dive back into the crystal clean water and resume their games. They all began to offer their small trinkets and shiny jewelry, except for Ruth and Louise who did not so much as mention their rings, so that they could toss them to the center, then dive to get them back. It slowly turned into a competition over who could find the most before everyone else could. There were a few good natured fights over a few of the items, but not anything that was not solved within a few seconds. 

Leigh went in for a dive at a slight glimmer she found at the bottom of the pond, her eyes closed as her hand poked at the bottom of the sandy bed. She felt something cool slip over her finger and knew that she had gotten what she had come for. 

It was less than a second later, before she even had a chance to begin swimming up to the surface again when the water began to swirl menacingly. The water in the pool whirled of it's own accord, as though the water were draining out but the level never lessened. They were all caught in the whirlpool, fighting to keep their heads above the water. All, that was, except Leigh who stood at the bottom at it's core. 


	9. Nenya's Wrath

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I own it not.

A/N: Thanks for the help, I got everything all planned now. More or less. And I got the Lord of the Rings CD! Okay, enough with my life, on with the story!

Maniacal laughter filled the ears of Leigh as the water churned around her. She felt none of it, was not pulled by the sway of the water or the need for air. The few times she took a breath, she found it to be of air and not water, though that was indeed what she was so deeply immersed in. 

__

Ha! Finally a new person come to help me wreak my revenge! How dare she think to leave me behind in the Gray Havens, how dare any of them?! I took us all back here and she refuses me! She shall pay for what she has done. No one denies the will of Nenya! 

Leigh managed to emit a small, high pitched squeal of fright, but it was lost amongst the swirling water around her. She found that she could not move, frozen in place and anchored to the bottom by some mysterious source. No one seemed to notice her as they swirled about in an attempt to keep their air source.

__

I suppose that none of these have done anything to be worthy of my wrath, the voice, which Leigh decided came from the ring that she had found, said. _You, however. Mistreat me and you shall pay. Leave me and I will seek my revenge. Go against my will and you will wish you never did._

The water abruptly stopped it's wayward path, throwing all of them to the banks as the water went eerily calm once more. A few members from the rest of the fellowship were gathered at the edge of the ravine, looking down into the swirling masses as it stopped so suddenly. Legolas, Gimli and the hobbits were quick to make their way down to ensure that the girls were all right, unnoticing of the oddness of the plant life around them. Galadriel was with them, and she could only stare at what had happened to her trees, unable to focus on anything but the fact that such oddities now grew in them.

They got as far as the last few trees before the banks of the river where the girls were pushing themselves up and gasping for breath before they all stopped somewhat nervously and hastily, averting their eyes respectfully and blushing in some cases, embarrassed for their manners.

"I don't suppose you guys could actually _help_ us," Louise said in annoyance as she pulled herself up to her feet and grabbed her towel, beginning to dry off. "You'd think that if you could fight orcs, you could help us."

"Begging your pardon, Miss, but we didn't mean to come in when you weren't properly dressed," Sam said quickly, going redder by each word until the tips of his ears resembled apples.

All of the girls shot confused looks at each other at his words, checking their bathing suits as well to ensure there were no tears or that they had not slipped in any way. None of them could quite figure out just what had troubled them so much until Nicole let out a small laugh.

"Ha! They've never seen bathing suits before!" she exclaimed happily, trying and succeeding in not breaking into fits of laughter. The rest upon hearing this did break down. "You can go back up and wait for us in the cottage if you'd prefer," she said to them, now the only one not laughing, but very close to doing so. 

They all went quickly back up the slope, though shrinking away slightly from the plant life. They now saw odd items growing in then that was unnatural and none of them wanted so much as to touch them, worried that there may be consequences for touching such a thing that has been so cursed.

The girls continued to laugh in sheer mirth until well after they had left. Liz went out into the trees to find new clothes for them all to wear, after all of them had decided it was time for a change in wardrobe. She had to go up in the tree about five times before she was able to find Leigh a pair of shorts she deemed short enough, so near the top and obviously far from the end of their growth cycle where they would become pants. 

In the end, they were all clad normally in jeans and tank tops or T shirts, except for Liz. She was a fan of the clothing that they wore here, so she made very small alterations to the original design of the clothes and wore breeches with a long sleeve shirt that showed her midriff as well as almost showing her shoulders. Pleased with themselves, they headed back up with a couple extra items in their arms. 

Galadriel met them at the top of the ravine, looking to each of them probingly. "What has become of the trees here? They have never before borne such fruit, or any fruit at all. What has brought so unnatural a change to these fair creatures?"

The girls exchanged wary and accusing glances. They had assumed that these trees were the result of the author of the fanfic making a mistake of some sort or they had changed it from a cross over and forgotten to write out the parts of where it had once taken place. Liz had guessed that the trees were simply like this only during the day, having seen them without such fruit the previous night.

"You mean, that's _not_ supposed to be like that?" Janet asked, making sure she was getting this correctly. It was her own theory now that was being disproved.

"You were not the one which has done this," Galadriel stated. She stood a moment, often letting her gaze fall to the ravine below where the trees stood and looking longingly to know the truth. Her eyes eventually came back up to the girls, all of which were unsure of whether or not they should have left already, and scanned each face. "I know who has done this. The Fellowship is awaiting you."

Nervously, they all left. Galadriel had successfully managed to put all of them at the edge of their proverbial seats in wanting to leave from where they were at her accusing gaze, as though any of them would have the power to change the very nature of the trees. They were glad that they were heading back to be with the Fellowship rather than in her presence, whether or not any of them were willing to talk to them at the moment.

They were surprised to find that the rest were indeed talking to them again. As soon as they entered, the hobbits bombarded them with questions for a few moments before asking why Leigh was not fully dressed. Then what exactly those garments they were. Aragorn sat back and watched as the girls explained, in a somewhat irritated way, that this was normal clothing where they came from, except that Leigh's shorts were indeed to short for her own good, but that was normal. He had seen them when they came through and knew that these garments were things native to their own lands. 

Liz simply stayed quiet and backed out of the entire thing, retreating to where dinner was laid out on the table. Nearly drowning for no apparent reason had given her an appetite. She helped herself to a few portions while she watched a debate ensue over proper dress for a maiden. She would have thought that by now they would have learned the consequences of using that term as the girls laughed again. 

There was something odd about Legolas, she saw as she nibbled a slice of bread. He seemed to be studying the girls for injuries more intently than the rest, but she could not figure out who as they continued to move about, moving to whoever they had a retort for and supporting each other's arguments. She had a sudden bout of jealousy which she was quick to disregard and put away into the deepest corners of her mind. He had fallen for one of them.

*You see it too?* Aragorn asked her in elvish. *I fear he may not deal well with it should they both realize their love and she has to go back. He does not yet realize it himself, but he will soon.*

Liz nodded to him slightly in understanding, but she still did not know who it was that Legolas worried for so. She would have to press the question later, however, as the argument was breaking up into a stalemate and they were coming for their supper. The conversation shifted from the clothing the girls now wore to just what happened in the ravine. 

"It was-" Leigh began as everyone else put in suggestions, but was cut off by a slight noise of fear. The voice of the ring cut her off with a sharp warning hissed though her mind. _Tell them not of me, I must seek my revenge without the world knowing._ She did not speak much for the remainder of the evening.

"So, any guesses of how the trees got to be like that?" Ruth asked casually, feeling the need to change the subject after so much speculation had been disproved by Nicole's reasoning. "We had one, but it we talked to Galadriel and it turns out we weren't right."

"Perhaps the enemy in the East has influence even into the lands of the fair Galadriel," Gimli suggested gruffly. "He seems to be as bad as Sauron at least from what we have found."

"Oh yeah, he's going to make trees grown clothing from where _we_ come from _here_, where he'll probably have the same reaction to it as you did," Louise said sarcastically. "Even I know that's not what happened. Galadriel seemed to know who did it though, didn't she?"

Nods and murmurs of agreement were heard from the girls around the table. "She knows, but she never said who it was," Janet put in. "Nicole, why didn't you predict any of this?"

"I didn't think about it," she said defensively. "I can't tell what's going to happen if I don't think about it first. You guys should have asked me."

*Meh, we all got out alive, so it's all good,* Liz said with a small smile. *I'm just not going to trust water for a little while after this. As for the trees, maybe they were getting tired of the usual stuff to grow so they decided to try something different.*

They discussed the trees and various other things, going back to the girl's clothing once or twice, before growing weary and many of them retired to bed. Aragorn announced they would be leaving the next day, finding it time to begin anew on their quest so that they could stop this problem before the enemy had time to bring up a proper army or reforge the ring.

They managed to sleep fitfully despite their journey in the morning. They wished that they could stay here, where it was safe and everything was so tranquil, but they knew that they could not. Liz blanked once more that night, but was happy to find herself at the door to the cottage this time rather than some place she did not recognize. She was quick to slip back into bed without making any noise, but she was beginning to worry that if this persisted she would have to tell someone.

They gathered before Galadriel the next morning, fully packed, but having to leave the horses behind now. On their backs, they carried supplies enough to last them a couple weeks, mostly food in the manner of lembas. They took lunch with Galadriel and Celeborn and drank from the cup of parting and were clothed in elven cloths and broaches, in the manner of their previous visit. 

Each of the members received a small token from the Lord and Lady of the wood. To the hobbits, each received a small, finely carved pipe, and to Gandalf a larger one. Legolas was donned with a new bow and the Lady managed to give Gimli an axe and another strand of hair for good luck. All of the girls besides Liz received a fine necklace with a simple gem placed in the center.

"To the three of you," she said, looking to Ruth, Louise and Leigh, "I add a warning. The rings give power according to the measure of each possessor, use them wisely."

She turned to Nicole, handing her a vial of silvery liquid which seemed to move about of it's own accord within. "You will know what to do with it when the time comes. This will allow you to return to where you truly belong."

Janet met her gaze squarely and managed to hold it for only a moment before Galadriel spoke once more. "My blessings on another quest you shall pursue," she said, "and this bow, which will aid you in this one."

Finally it came time for Liz, who was anxious to get moving and get this done regardless of the still calm in which she waited. "These I give to you," she said, handing her the necklace of the elves, and a chain with a single gem set upon it which was to rest upon her head as a mock crown and headband. "One for the elf which you deny, and the other to keep part of your curse at bay. Take the second off never, if it can be helped."

Liz put both on and curtsied low to Galadriel, wondering what her words could have meant. She helped herself into the boat with a kind smile back, wishing once more that she could stay but knowing that she could not. They all set off once more, leaving behind the peace of Lothlorien for the dangers and perils of the river and what lay beyond. 

The boats were arranged like this: Gandalf, Frodo and Sam in the head boat; Pippin, Janet and Leigh next; Legolas, Gimli and Liz after; Louise, Merry and Ruth fourth and Aragorn and Nicole in the last boat. These boats were much larger than the last time so that they could fit everyone as well as packs in each boat, though most were still carried in the last boat. 

Conversation was minimal as the river carried them past the edge of Lothlorien, few people in the same boat as their friends. They chatted occasionally, but ended up taking in the scenery instead. Some of them knew better than others that this may be the last time they would see trees and greenery. 

They passed the kings of old in awe, none of their splendor gone from the last time they had passed. The girls had never expected them to be so extravagant and look so tremendous. Aragorn ran commentary to Nicole and told her of the statues and their history. 

They were about an hour downstream from the statues when Aragorn asked Nicole if there would be any unexpected complications this time around. She thought on it a minute and did a few calculations, moving a finger swiftly through the air to help her with the more complicated mathematics, her eyes widening throughout. "We're going to be attacked from the east bank in about two minutes by orcs with enhanced senses. The leader will be able to fly with crow wings. And the boat with Pippin Janet and Leigh will capsize. One of them is going to be struck with an arrow before they can get under cover."

"Are you certain?" he asked with a studied look. "Will we be safe if we go to shore now?"

"If we go to shore now the boat will still capsize. It will happen no matter what happens. There is a scout group on the bank patrolling. These orcs are better armed than us and have something else on their side. They will outnumber us and take us prisoner, and kill most of you guys." Her brow furrowed in thought. "We'll be better off with the first option, if we ride the west bank. The arrows won't have poison on them and the injury will heal in a few days."

"Move to the west bank!" Aragorn yelled to the rest of the boats. Heads snapped around to inquire as to what brought about the order. "We are about to be attacked, but the attack is safer than the alternative! Pippin, Janet, try to keep your boat from capsizing!"

A few heads looked back to Nicole before complying. Pippin and Janet wondered over Aragorn's last words, hoping that they had been mistaken. They could not e the only one who would be overturned, surely.

__

You should not be going ashore so soon, the ring said within Leigh's head. _I command you to stop them!_ When the ring realized that Leigh's mind was more preoccupied with some other matter, it took it onto itself to correct their path. A wave whipped at the side of the boat, moving it back to the center of the stream. 

An odd battle between the current and the rowers took place. Only one boat was trying to fight it's way back to center stream, the rest were unaffected by the current, and the passengers were beginning to worry. Leigh was in a state of panic, high pitched words unintelligible irregardless of her efforts to tell the ring to stop.

A hail of arrows permeated the air as they had begun to lose the battle with the current. In a finally effort, they made a powerful pull against the water, and were overturned. They plunged into the water as a number of arrows hit the surface of the water and the bottom of the capsized boat. 


	10. Injuries and Separation

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Wahoo! Managed to finish another chapter before this weekend was done! I have sugar running through my blood at the moment! SUGAR! Happy Easter and I hope you all get lots of chocolate!!

Legolas had fired off about half a dozen arrows, all hitting their marks on the opposite bank, before the boat capsized. The rest watched on helplessly as the arrows surrounded and hit the capsized boat. A small cry came from under the boat and a small bit of the water had gained a reddish tint. Hurriedly, he shook off his quiver, dropped the bow, and dove in, swimming out to help those who were now being caught by the current.

"Legolas, stop-" Aragorn began, but he was already gone, avoiding the swarm of arrows. He took up his friend's bow and started shooting off arrows at the other bank. Gandalf performed a number of spells to shield them all and to try and bring the boat back to shore. Everyone else worked to bring the boats fully ashore and save the contents of them. 

A great black orc came out from the trees and flew high above the scene, above the worried gaze of the fellowship, who were too intent now on their friends in the boat and the enemies on the opposite shore. He swept across the river to fly high above the other side. Taking his aim carefully, he dove on crow's wings down with a sword brandished in his hands to Gandalf, the key to their defense at the moment.

Liz caught the movement of black on the sky blue from the corner of her eye and heard the swish of unnaturally large wings in the sky. Her head snapped up to see a dark creature diving at them and her instincts took over. She loosed a throwing knife, catching him right between the eyes, and sent him plummeting into the river. The splash startled everyone, on both sides. The enemy hesitated a moment, then fell back in retreat at the loss of their leader. A glance of approval was shot at Liz, while she cursed herself for the loss of a knife. 

The company in the water managed to make it out much better after that, coming out from under the boat's cover and swimming to shore and letting the boat drift over the falls. Legolas came first and with the most urgency. Janet lay draped in his arms, unconscious and blood pouring from a wound in her leg. Pippin came next and last was Leigh, looking very pale.

Aragorn and Gandalf were quick to help Legolas tend to the wound. An arrow had pierced her left leg as she was going under the boat and the surprise of it had caused her head to hit the sides of it hard, knocking her unconscious. Leigh and Pippin had dragged her under to safety and did what they could, Pippin removing the arrow while Leigh supported her. 

Between the three of them they managed to clean and bandage the wound, diagnosing a few days for a complete recovery and to let her sleep for now. Aragorn looked to Nicole after her finished in astonishment, though he knew he should have figured by now. "You have been more helpful and more accurate in the past few days than any palantir I have ever encountered has been in their lifetimes. Should you decide to stay, I would welcome you in my court."

Nicole only nodded vaguely, unhearing of his words and trying to take in the fact that someone had actually gotten hurt on their expedition. It had truly seemed little more than a game, even when they had been caught in the whirlpool or having to face down orcs. It seemed that it was true, it only remained fun and games until someone got hurt.

Ruth, Louise and Leigh were talking amongst each other, only now finding out that they each possessed a ring of power, though none quite knew what it meant. They could all hear whisperings in their heads as the rings conferred with one another, arguing and bickering over one thing or another that had happened. Aloud, the girls consoled Leigh, telling her that it was not her fault that the ring was out of control and tried to ignore the whisperings.

Liz scouted through the forest, walking with the hobbits and trying to find a good place to set up camp for the night. She was worried about Janet, but she was sure that she would be all right in the end. Gandalf and Aragorn had said so, as did Nicole, but it still troubled her immensely. 

"She will be fine, Miss Liz," Frodo assured her, a troubled look on his own face since they had left Lothlorien. "You will see. Strider is an excellent healer, as is Gandalf. I do not particularly know about Legolas though, but all elves know the ways of healing."

*That's not what I'm worried about,* she lied. *What has you so troubled?* Merry shot a look at her that told her plainly to change the subject. She made a mental note that Merry had picked up on some elvish. *Hey, did anyone else notice that Legolas has been acting oddly lately? He's in love.* 

"Is he?" Sam asked curiously. 

"I saw," Frodo said with a slight smile at his friend. "He looks at her the same way our Sam here looks at Rosie. I never thought that elf would have ever fallen in love."

"But who would have thought it would have been her," Merry commented. "After someone hung off of me like that for a while I wouldn't be able to stand them. Elves are a bit strange in their ways, I suppose, but it still seems odd to me."

*Master Meriadoc, you are most certainly not a romantic,* Liz said with a slight smile. *Then again, neither am I so there's no big problem there. What do you think of that place there? Rock over hang and a nice little clearing for all of us.*

The hobbits readily agreed and they all headed back to begin moving everything away from the exposed shore. They had begun to get over what had happened and let Janet sleep while Aragorn began working the rest of the girls on their fighting techniques once more. Leigh was beginning to make considerable progress, able to envision Sam as the personified version of the ring which had caused so much damage over the past two days. 

They all slept fitfully that night, Liz not having blanked at all that night and waking up in some place other than her bed the next morning. Overjoyed at this, she still told no one, happy that she would not have to bring it up as a problem. Janet was awake now, tired from loss of blood to the river and her leg was now in a splint. They both were at the morning discussion with everyone else to decide their next move. If there were patrols along both banks, the surely the enemy, whoever it was, had risen enough of an army to be a possible threat, which would mean they should head to Gondor and Aragorn should help raise the army. However, they knew that they may all have to travel into Mordor this time in order to find the ring and stop it from being brought back.

In the end, they left it to the old ring bearer to decide. Frodo had been growing increasingly worried throughout the journey and it showed clearly on his face now. "I shall need time to think on this," he said finally. "Let me alone for a short while and I shall have an answer for you." A sorrow showed on his face, this decision was hardest for him and he needed the time desperately. 

"You shall have it," Aragorn said regretfully. He knew what had happened the last time as well as the rest of them, but saw no other choice at the moment. A few of them watched intently as he went into the woods, others busied themselves with whatever they could. Nicole was using a stick to scribble rough numbers and words into the ground.

A minute after he had gone, Nicole got up and approached Liz, who had been studying the elven necklace from Galadriel. It was authentic as far as she could tell, a symbol of immortality, but why it would be given to her was a mystery. She looked to Nicole questioningly and waited for her to voice her concerns.

"You have to follow Frodo," she said finally. "There's a patrol in the forest looking for us. He'll run into them faster if he knows he's being followed, though, but someone needs to watch his back."

*Legolas? Aragorn?* she asked, knowing that names were about the only thing her friends understood when they came out of her mouth.

She shook her head sadly no. "Aragorn will result in everyone going out to look and Legolas is a bit preoccupied with Janet. If you stick to the trees, no one will see you and you will be fine. I'll make sure everyone else goes out in a little bit."

With a rueful grin, Liz nodded and went off, soundlessly escaping the camp and beginning to track the hobbit. It was simple, he left footprints in the fallen leaves and soft ground, and he did not get very far on his short legs. She kept a watch on him and his surroundings as he wandered without purpose or real direction through the wood. 

At last he stopped, resting on a stone of Amon Hen. He had found his way to the ruins to reminisce and think. She caught a few of his murmuring from where she was, finding out what was troubling him so terribly. He was assigned to destroy the ring again, to go through the trials of it once more. He could already feel the pull on it as it's remnants were slowly being recovered from Mount Doom and being put back together, drop by drop, and was unsure if he could indeed do the task again.

The bushes moved a little ways off behind the ruins, not enough make any noise that would attract Frodo's attention but more than enough for Liz to be on alert. She looked more carefully at them, seeing ghastly orc hybrids trying to sneak up on the lone hobbit, though taking their time. She looked to her knife belt, trying to discern how many shots she could get off and deciding that if things got too bad she could use a sword. 

She loosed a knife, letting it soar through the air above Frodo, the reflected light glinting into his eyes, and striking one of the creatures in the shoulder. It howled in pain, unearthly as it's companions took up arms and came at Frodo. One took to the air, pitch black wings stark against the white of the overcastted sky, while the rest seemed to scurry across the ground.

Frodo looked first for the source of the metal that flew above him, but was quickly distracted by the creatures. He had never seen orcs like this, part animal to enhance themselves. He brandished Sting quickly, it's length glowing a subdued blue as though unsure as to what to make of these beings. "Help!" he called before bracing for the attack.

Liz, from her spot in a tree, sent out a hail of knives and managed to take down six of the eight that were approaching. With her last one, she threw it up in the air and caught it again, hoping that it might have possibly worked as a signal, but severely doubting it. Leaping down from the tree, she rushed in to join Frodo, who was already trying to take down the other two. 

Six more came as the first one fell, giving them more problems than they needed at the moment. An instant later, Aragorn rushed in with half of their party trailing behind, much to their relief. Only a few more orcs joined the battle after that, and the rest of the Fellowship as well. Leigh hung back with Janet, who had insisted on not being left behind, and watched as their side slowly won the battle.

There were only two orcs left, and they all had them cornered. The girls told them to surrender, knowing from movies and television shows that they could probably get information from them, while the rest glared menacingly. A large black creature fell atop the remaining pair, an arrow sprouting from it's back. The two were trapped beneath, tangled in the wings and unable to lift the weight of their leader. 

A few heads looked behind them to see Janet now leaning against a tree for support with a bow in hand. "What?" she asked at the worried glances. "Did you expect me to just stand here the whole time?"

After a few more glances back at her to make sure she was still all right, all eyes turned to the two small, pathetic creatures trapped beneath the massive one. The creatures appeared to be part orc and part squirrel, muscles decreased along the length of their visible arms and twitchy noses. Their faces were covered sparsely with gray fur, but the rest of what they could see appeared to be orcish. "Who sent you here," Gandalf demanded finally in hopes of finding the name of the one reforging the ring. 

"No business of yours wizard," one snapped. "Our master will reveal himself when the Middle-Earth is his."

"And Radaga-" the other continued, before being stabbed in the back by his companion for almost leaking out vital information. He grimaced at the task, the effort of putting stabbing him enough to kill physically painful because of the angle needed to twist his arm, but showed no remorse for the deed. 

*That's gruesome,* Liz remarked offhandedly with a wide eyed expression. She blinked and looked to the other fellowship members. *So, any one know who Radaga is?*

No one paid her any heed. "What shall we do with this one, then?" Merry asked.

"The only good orc is a dead orc," Gimli replied knowingly, anxious to take another head of such a foul creature. "Though I am not entirely sure if this is one. It looks stranger than most."

Liz shrugged and headed back to where Leigh and Janet were waiting. A few of the other girls joined her and they headed back to the camp as a group. Slowly, everyone else trickled back and Frodo was still undecided. Gandalf, however, stepped in and made the decision. "I need travel to Isengard to refer to the records anew. It is far harder to track down a band of people in Mordor than in, say, Minas Tirth."

"To Minas Tirth it is, then," Aragorn said, a hint of joy in his voice at the prospect of seeing his wife anew. "When shall you be departing from us, Gandalf?"

"Now, I believe," he said. "The sooner I have figured this mystery out, the sooner we all can get back to the matter of preventing the one ring from coming back into this world. And yes, Liz, I shall look into your problem," he added at the pleading look on her face. "Farewell to you all, and we shall meet again in Minas Tirth."

With that he left, disappearing into the shadows and light shafts of the forest. They regarded his leaving with hopes, thinking that answers would soon follow and hoping for the best, though it seemed still like the Fellowship had begun to break a second time. They took the rest of their meal in silence before setting off anew.

Merry and Pippin seemed to be in much higher spirits than usual, constantly commenting to each other how nice the land was here when they weren't prisoners of the orcs. They narrated what they could remember of their experiences to anyone who would listen, and even when no one else was paying attention to them for the next few days, including the spot where Pippin dropped the broach. Legolas fell back at that point, as did Gimli, to put in what happened when they found it again. Soon, they too joined in the story and were eagerly telling their tale as Aragorn tried to push them on faster to their destination.

"What sends you home so quickly?" Legolas asked him curiously. 

*Arwen doesn't like it when he's gone from home too long,* Liz taunted good-naturedly. *Either that or he doesn't trust her running the country.* At this she shot him an accusing look.

"Legolas tells me that she was quite possessive when she was a child," Gimli put in, needing something to keep his mind off of the fact that he had just seen a small band of orcs flitting across the land and was doing nothing about separating their heads from their bodies.

The reaction to this however, was laughter from most of the company. Legolas agreed with him heartily, and Aragorn only shot a look back at them that would have killed them should looks have that power. 

Throughout the trip there were many orc sightings, though none attacked and they did nothing to provoke them. Gimli groaned loudly at this in protest, but followed the order to not get involved in it. And in the entire time Liz did not once blank, not ending up in some strange unknown place when she next awoke besides her bedroll. She touched the gem at her forehead and the white silver band which held it there and thanked Galadriel silently for the gift that had given her more than she had ever expected.


	11. News

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Okay, hyper on Easter chocolate and ready to post more! YAY! And if anything doesn't make sense, that's why. J 

Pippin and Merry made them stop a while in Fangorn so that they could visit with their old friend. It had taken an hour of begging, pleading, bickering and arguing between them and Aragorn, who had taken charge of the company, to convince him that it was a good idea. 

They needed only wander through Fangorn an hour before they crossed paths with an Ent they knew. Quickbeam recognized them in an instant and greeted them hastily, for an Ent that is. It still took him near an hour to greet them all properly. They had managed to get him to lead them to where Treebeard was residing while he did so and as his greetings came to a conclusion, they were at his residence. 

With Treebeard came another round of greetings, Treebeard remarking a few times on the fact that the girls were the hastiest creatures he had ever met, more so than hobbits. The girls spent a time pondering out how exactly they could be considered hasty when it was the Ents which moved at such a slow pace when all that was needed was a simple 'hello.'

The entire experience seemed to calm Aragorn immensely. No longer did he long to get back to Minas Tirith as quickly as possible, but he felt it best to stay here for the rest of the day and night. It would be safer that way, especially with all of the orcs about. Perhaps Arwen's affect on him was not as strong as they may have otherwise thought.

"Treebeard! We also bring other news with us as well!" Merry piped in after they had gotten the girls to tell the tale. Between five of them, Liz excluding herself because of the language problem which would complicate things, they had managed to tell the entire story in the shortest possible time. Treebeard looked astonished to find that he could not interrupt them in their tale amongst all of the times they interrupted each other. 

"Hoo, eh? What?" he asked, patiently, still trying to take in the girl's tale.

"We have found Entwives," Pippin said happily. "They reside in Torlindon, which is a little farther west from the West Farthings in the Shire. They say that they will come here should you agree to pay more heed to the lesser trees. They say that they will compromise and pay more attention to the greater beings in the forest. It seems that they too want Entings, though for a different reason as all females do."

*Excuse me?* Liz asked threateningly, with an eyebrow raised in his direction. He noticed a few more glares permeating the air at him and he met them with a confused look as though to say 'What did I do?' His companions merely laughed and watched as he stumbled over words of apology for whatever he did.

Treebeard, however, was quite interested in the news they brought back. He inquired to Merry for news of the Entwives, were they truly there and willing to come back? Had many become more treeish over the long years? Did they have many difficulties over the times? 

"Why, I never thought I would live to see the day when I saw so hasty an Ent," Merry remarked once the inquisition was done. "I suppose this shall mean a moot in the morning, which is probably the best time for us to leave, right Strider?"

After they had all gone to sleep that night, Liz lay awake in wonderment. She had imagined the Ents from the stories and these looked so much like what she had pictured. She had never though Fangorn would be so magnificent, and found herself hoping that the movie would be able to show at least half of the splendor. 

She got herself out of her bedroll, a question for the big Ent in mind should he still be awake. He stood in the room, seeming to watch over everything, though it may be that he slept. She feared that she may never know the difference between when they simply stood still and when then they nodded off. His eyes, were however, open and she made her way over to him, tapping him in ankle very lightly.

"Hrum eh?" he asked, looking down to see who beckoned him. "Ah yes, you are Liz, the one with the unique circumstances, correct? What has brought you out of your slumber so early?"

*Two questions,* she replied. *Didn't the Ents destroy Isenguard?*

"Hoom, yes, but the remaining Istari brought it back. It is a library now, filled with the books and records of old for any who have need to enter. Only a few people in the world seem to know about it though, Gandalf tends to like things that should not be secrets kept as such. I believed him hasty to think that it might be put to bad uses, but now I see that he may have been correct in his ways."

*Okay,* she said, taking all of the information in. *And do you know of a way to fix my problem of speaking in elvish?*

"Alas, no," he replied. "This has never before happened and there is no way that I know to correct it. You will find the cure someday, but not this one and probably not here. Sleep now, elf child. You will have a long road ahead of you in the morning." Liz nodded, trying to clear her head so that sleep would come to her and that she would rest well that night.

They were awoken the next morning by very heavy footfalls and many deep musical voices calling to each other over great distances. The moot was already beginning, Ents from far and wide coming to join at this early hour. Under different circumstances one might consider the world in true peril because the Ents had become hasty. The fact that the Ents had waited centuries for the reappearance of Entwives credited them for their exuberance. Even those Ents that had gone treeish were attempting to come.

The company left in high spirits, despite the early wake up call. Treebeard offered to carry them to the edge of the forest, along with a few other Ents who were grateful for the news. More than half the trees seemed to be moving as they continued on their trek. Their moods only got higher as they went through, unable to resist falling into sharing the joy of the Ents. 

Their mood stayed gleeful and joyous for the next few days, regardless of the unsettling number of orcs that had made it out this far. A few started a game which was basically who could spot the most orcs in a day. The prize turned out to be a few leafs of pipeweed, which did not particularly tempt the girls to play to win. 

They encountered a scout group three days from Minas Tirith that recognized a few of their company, especially their King. They readily accepted them into their company and doubled up on their horses to make room, some of the newer ones seeming honored to be in their King's presence. 

The remaining three day journey took only a day and a half, though it was much more tense than before. It seemed as though the riders knew of something they didn't and did not want to be the ones to tell them of the news. A theory ran through all of the minds that noticed this, but none truly wanted to voice it for fear that in doing so it would happen.

As it appeared on the horizon, a few quiet sighs of relief were made that their predictions were not a reality. No fire blazed up from it and there were no armies surrounding it in a siege. It still existed in all of it's splendor and was certainly not a pile of rubble smoldering in the dust. Whatever the problem was, it seemed to be contained within without affecting the outside.

A few of them seemed surprise that, as a King, Aragorn was not greeted with a fanfare and people lining up in the streets to greet him. Instead, he made his way into the main building through a less traveled street and through a side door, ad then headed straight to his own rooms. Legolas then guided them to another part of the castle where they could get food and rest while Aragorn sorted out whatever was wrong.

They opened the door to the hall where they would say and saw an astonishing sight. Elves crowded within, huddling against the walls and helping themselves to food while talking to each other in a more subdued and hushed tone. A few noticed those at the door and sent word along the string of people to an unknown source. Legolas wandered into their midst with a worried look spreading across his face. 

*What happened?* Liz asked no one in particular, looking as shocked as the rest of them. Never before had she ever seen elves so very crestfallen and defeated. She recognized a few of them as those in Rivendell, but how could that be possible?

"Guys, is that really you?" a small desperate voice came from a little ahead of them, approaching from their left. Kathy came out of the shadows with a scared look across her face and bandages on her arm. "Why did you leave me there?"

"What happened?" Janet asked more insistently. "And we left you because it you slept in and wouldn't wake up. We tried."

"There were these-these things," she tried to explain, using her hands to help her talk. "Huge black wings and ugly people, like that guy in the movie that killed that guy at the end."

*Boromir?* Liz suggested.

"That's it. Anyway, they came in and set the whole place on fire. The elves couldn't keep them from doing it, they just dropped whatever it was on the place from too high and it burned down. We all managed to escape and we had to ride on these huge birds to get here. I'm still sore from that, and my arm is all gross and burnt."

"The eagles? What has brought them out so far?" Merry wondered aloud. His words, however, went unheard as the girls separated off and began to catch up on everything they had missed. The rest of them went in search of food and Pippin was the first to find an untouched bunch of mushrooms which he seemed reluctant to share with his fellow hobbits.

The girls were fully caught up and in search of the rest of the Fellowship when Aragorn entered, looking a little worn and harried. Arwen was at his side, long midnight blue gown flowing as her sharp eyes roamed the room. Slowly, they managed to gather together the company and make their way out of the room, somewhat inconspicuously. They all exchanged looks as though trying to figure out just what was happening, on top of the mysteries of what had befallen Rivendell. 

"I know of you quest," Arwen stated. Some of them had to hold their tongues for her pointing out what they believed to be obvious. "This could not have come at a worse time, so soon after the lands had found peace. My father has informed me of all of this and now, with the fall of Rivendell, I do not believe that there is any alternative but for all of you to once more destroy the ring."

*We know _that_ already,* Liz muttered, barely audible. 

"The one that speaks only in the elvish tongue," Arwen said, smiling softly at her. "My father told me of you and your quest as well. Many troubles seem to follow you all, and you leave troubles in your wake. It seems so much like before in so many ways, and yet so different from before. I did not quite understand when my father told me of how you six came to be here."

"Nicole lead us through some portal type thing to get here and fix Liz," Kathy explained simply. 

"Ah, so it was a magic from your own world," Arwen stated, as though it all now made sense. "You speak strangely and it would seem that your land is not one of here at all, for such magic is not present here, lest the Istari are keeping more secrets from us than we would expect." 

"But we don't _have_ magic in our world," Ruth countered. "It's theoretically impossible unless you're Liz, who thinks it will just appear one of these days. What we did was use- What was it called again?"

"I think the best term is experimental astrophysics," Nicole replied. 

"Truly, such remarkable girls," Arwen said with a slight hint of disbelief at their words in her voice. She had absolutely no clue what they were talking about. How could there be a land of no magic? That could not be possible, could it? And what were these lengthy words that she had never heard before? "I do believe I shall accept you all as my ladies in waiting."

A few eyebrows were raised, confused as to how they had suddenly become ladies in waiting to a queen. Because they were remarkable she claimed, but they suspected another force at work here. The way Aragorn stayed a silent presence and the way that he watched over the conversation. The rest of them seemed to do the same, as though they had all been plotting this, a way to get the girls out of their way in time for Gandalf's return so that they could venture into Mordor without their hindrance. 

*I see,* Liz said finally, keeping he voice even and rid of anything that might give away the fact that she knew. *I would be honored,* she said with a curtsy. She shot a look at the rest of them to tell them to play along and prayed that they would understand what she was trying to do. 

The rest of the girls, luckily, got the message and followed Liz in suit, each curtsying and accepting their charge without showing their reluctance or feelings of betrayal. Kathy was the only one genuinely willing to go into a queen's service, having not known that they were turned over to her as a way for the Fellowship of their presence. The rest of them made a silent pact with themselves and each other to find the perfect way to repay them for this.


	12. Betrayal Repaid

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Okay, fanfiction is being mean. I tried for two days to upload the last chapter, but it doesn't want to let me in. Or rather didn't. Oh well, here now and will let you continue. REVIEW please? 

*It is no difficulty,* Arwen told Liz as she emerged from the dressing room in a long gown. Liz had asked them make it specially to cater to one that she had long had in her imaginations if it was of no trouble. Arwen seemed insistent on keeping them all happy where they were and paid each of the girls special attention while they were in her company. *It truly is a pleasure being able to speak to another who can speak in my native tongue.*

*It's not as though I really had much choice in the matter,* Liz said with a slight blush. She was suddenly very thankful for taking Acting this year, having to pretend to actually like all of this was a little hard to do. Then there was the problem of not forgetting which words they did not understand. *But I suppose this makes life much more interesting. I suppose ladies in court are far safer than those out traveling the worlds in such times as these.*

*Quite true,* Arwen replied, looking quite happy with herself for having converted another one of them. Kathy was the first and had caved quickly and had truly given in to this life, a safer one in the castle than one out in the wilderness. She was the second, and much preferred the out doors to the confinement in this fortress. *Come and site, I will fix your hair.*

Liz obeyed, taking a seat in the chair before Arwen as she took up a brush. The queen moved to take the band from Liz's head and she quickly brought her own hands up to hold it firmly in place. *I was told to keep it on at all times if possible,* Liz explained quickly, so that Arwen would not get offended. *It was a gift from the lady of the woods.*

*Ah yes,* Arwen said in understanding. *It would be wisest to heed to the Lady Galadriel's words.* She managed to brush out the rest of her hair, top of it excluded, and let it fall freely upon her shoulders. *Such odd ears you have,* she said after she put the brush down, her hand straying to touch them. *So obviously elven, but they are so close to your head.* Her hand pulled back a moment before she touched one of them, as though thinking better of it. She then urged Liz to a mirror for her to see herself.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Liz was surprised to find that she did truly look maidenly, the gem on her forehead now matching the crimson of her dress. The sleeves were flared from the elbow and the dress did not cover her shoulders. The golden pattern decorating the rims of her dress brought out colors in her skin that she never knew existed. She was almost sad to know that she would not be able to stay like this for much longer, but other things had to be done.

*Thank you so very much,* she said gratefully, dipping into a well rehearsed curtsy. Finally, all those years in dance were paying off. There was a high pitched noise a few rooms down. *I believe Leigh is almost finished with her fitting,* she said with a slight smile. *Would you like me to get her for you? I would much like to show my dress to my friends.*

Arwen nodded her consent and Liz left the room. She went down the hall to where Leigh was just getting the finishing touches on her dress put on and poked her head in. She looked positively miserable to have to wear a dress this long and covering. Possibly just to be wearing a dress, period. *Is she finished?* Liz asked the dressmaker.

The dressmaker made a couple vague remarks as she mad the final touches, but Liz did not pay attention, more intent on the mouthed questions and information Leigh was giving to her. They were already tracking down Celebwen, who they knew to be trustworthy and were formulating further plans. _Did you cave?_ she mouthed lastly.

Liz shook her head no. Leigh seemed to be visibly relieved at the news and stepped down from the pedestal she was on to go and see the queen. Her dress was lovely, but not her style. It was far more conservative than she was used to and she did not quite know how to walk with so much material swishing before her feet. "Wish me luck," she said softly in passing and Liz proceeded back to her own room.

It was a nice room, far nicer than her own had been at home. A canopy bed was against one wall, gowns laid out across it that were already made to custom fit her. So odd it was to be catered to as such, but she did not pay it too much heed. She instead went to her possessions, those that she had managed to stow away before they could strip her of them. She had lost the pack with her supplies, they had decided it unmaidenly to carry such a thing, but had salvaged some of the things within.

Beneath her bed was her knife belt, a week's worth of lembas and a sword all wrapped in her elven cloak. She had managed to smuggle them in as though it were only a cloak before she had gone to her fitting the day before. Her old clothes, she noticed, had mysteriously disappeared despite the assurance that she would get them back in a few hours. 

She turned to her knife belt, drawing a knife from the sheath and going to work on cutting the leather. Slowly she managed to separate the knife sheaths from the leather of the belt and tore the belt into strips. Using a needle she had hidden away in the hem of her dress during the fitting and twine hidden in her shoe that she had gotten from the same place, she went to work on turning the belt into wrist sheaths that she could hide within her sleeves. 

She was half finished when she was summoned to dine with Arwen and Aragorn that evening. Her friends all sat at the table, the rest of the Fellowship conspicuously missing from the event. They ate in moderate silence, all of the girls acting as though they did not know how to act on these occasions and breaking the silence only for the odd question about which fork to use for which dish. 

After lights out that night, the girls minus Kathy who was obviously happy with this life and had no intention of trying to get back at those who had betrayed them. A few of them had their doubts as well, thinking that they would simply get them back and then stay here anyway after they left, but they did not discuss that now. Celebwen was with them, having sworn her loyalty to them and not to tell unless she was severely threatened.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I hate these dresses," Nicole said, fiddling with hers again to try and keep it from getting in the way, only to throw it angrily to the side and let it fall back in place. "I want them to pay for this."

"They took all of my pants!" Janet exclaimed, having looked through her room many times over for a pair. "I'm going to kill them for this!"

*I'm for it,* Liz agreed. *Plus, there is no way I am staying in this castle for the rest of this. I don't care what you guys do, but if I am stuck here for more than a month I may just throw myself out of one of those windows. But maybe lay off killing them, stick with the follow Arwen thing until we absolutely cannot take it any longer. Now, what are we going to do? Prank them?*

"Pranks are really immature, Liz," Ruth pointed out. "However, I don't think they know about them. If we can just do a simple prank, or a lot of them, and let them know subtly who did it, it might work."

"That also involves exploring the castle, which we can't do, remember?" Louise pointed out. They were told to stay in this wing so that they could avoid getting lost in the large establishment. "If we could be invisible…"

"This is depressing, and I'm tired," Leigh said. "I'm going to sleep." Most of the rest of them agreed, deciding to reconvene on this the next night, perhaps with new insights or ideas.

Liz went back to her room and worked on her sheaths until the moon was at it's highest. This was what she had come to think of as midnight and she decided to turn in for the night. She slipped the sheaths and the blades into a tiny rip in the underside of the bed she had discovered when she went under the bed to see how much space was under it. 

She looked up at the roof on the canopy bed, never before having one such as it. True, she had slept in it the previous night, but her amusement over having what looked like two ceilings had yet to wear off. Slowly, her mind drifted to a few feeble plans for getting back at the guys and how to make them pay for their treachery until she fell asleep.

She was left alone to sleep in, or so they seemed to think she was doing, as a couple more of her friends went in for their fitting sessions and visits with Arwen. She, however, was up early as usual, unable to sleep in for some odd reason just like at home. Immediately she went to work on her new sheaths and managed to finish one of them by the time a knock came on her door for lunch. Quickly hiding it all, she got the door to find Kathy waiting for her with a broad smile on her face. 

"It's like you to sleep in," she commented. "Come on, it's almost lunch."

She followed her friend as she continued to talk idly, asking various questions like whether or not they were still planning on revenge. The entire thing was one sided as she disproved that theory and started talking about which elves she hit it off with really well. This continued well into the dining room and their meal, talking on without really noticing that her friend had allowed her attention to wander to other things.

There were a couple errands for the Queen that they had to run in the afternoons and dignitaries from varying parts of the lands that they would have to meet and escort to places around their wing. After all of that, they were off to dinner and then had a couple hours before they were off to bed. During those hours, the girls often found Celebwen to have a meeting while Kathy went off to see the elves. 

That became a quick routine, continuous and automatic after only two days of doing it. Liz worked hard in creating holders for her knives in most of her off time, but also letting her mind wander to other things. In Lothlorien she knew she had been the one who had changed the trees, something about the way that Galadriel looked at her told her so. What else could she do? She had tried a few things, such as moving objects with her mind and creating light from the palm of her hand to no avail. She was missing something that should be so obvious.

It was nearing midnight on the fourth day of what Liz had come to call her imprisonment. She wished she could go out anywhere, find someone who she could talk to and ask whatever questions she wanted and get an answer from them, no matter how vague. The fact that no one here could understand her on their own here besides the queen was starting to drive her insane.

She let up her work earlier that night. Putting her work away, she took out her cloak, the one she had received in Lothlorien. The way the moonlight hit it made it seem like liquid. _Almost like the invisibility cloak in Harry Potter_, she thought with a smile. But it couldn't be. She threw it over her shoulders with a smile of triumph creeping over her face.

Bringing the hood up over her head, she went to the door and slipped out on cats feet. She could still pretend it could until she got caught wandering the halls at night. She wandered absently at first until she reached the end of her knowledge as to where she was going. Down a little farther, however, around a corner was a door with light pouring out of the bottom. She crept along the hall soundlessly, barefoot on the cold stone floor, and listened intently.

"I still don't believe we did that!" one of the hobbits, she could not discern which at the moment, exclaimed.

"It was necessary," Gimli said matter-of-factually. "They would have only gotten in the way once we got to the dark lands. It does not matter what they have learned thus far, they know naught of surviving on their own should they be separated. The entirety of the way here they were plotting amongst each other, we all saw that at one time or another. I am certain that fanfic author they continuously speak of is not something good."

Liz was nearly ready to burst with laughter at that last claim. Oh how little he knew. She edged into the room, careful not to make a sound as she eased the door open and closed again. Now she would definitely get caught, no doubt in her mind, but she remained silent as though the cloak that covered her truly left her invisible. Why she did this was a mystery, even to herself. She could not reason out what was bringing herself to such risk of discovery except for the thrill.

"That Liz girl is eerie as well," Legolas commented. "Since that time at the hills before the pass, that power. She did not even seem aware that she had it, as though she actually did not remember using a song to bring the land to life and return it to the soil. I am unsure if I believe the Lady Galadriel in that she truly did not know."

"Worry not," Aragorn put in at last. He began to launch into just how Arwen had them all fooled and would be able to keep them here under any circumstances, but Liz was no longer listening. She had actually brought life from the ground with a song then? But she couldn't sing. No, Galadriel must have been mistaken in her telling. She could not have performed such a feat and not remember it. She remembered the trees, after all. They had remained there after she had awoken and she remembered naming the trees. There would have been some sign left if she had truly done something like that and she would have remembered.

She quickly shook it off, dismissing it as a mistake, and thought of how to wreak her havoc. This was getting ridiculous, that they still did not realize that she was there. She went up by Legolas with a mischievous smile. Softly, she began to chant, *Legolas and Janet, sitting in a tree.* When he tried to swat at the voice, she backed away and continued in his other ear. *K-I-S-S-I-N-G.*

A few odd looks were shot in Legolas' direction as he seemed to be swatting at an invisible bug and Liz moved on. *Traitor,* she hissed in Frodo's ear. He turned abruptly to face her, and seemed to look right past her in his search. *Double-crosser,* she added, but still in his search, he could not seem to find her. Had they all gone blind? 

She moved on to Aragorn, her mind searching for something that might be appropriate. *Can't the king handle a few little girls?* she asked mockingly, unable to think of something better at the moment. *Or does he leave such work to his wife because it's too difficult for him?*

She went around again, whispering things to those three only once more on her second pass. They each tried to look for her, hear her foot falls or have some indication that she was not only a figment of their imaginings. She, however, went soundlessly on the wooden floor, her bare feet stepping too lightly. 

There were questions shot at the three and eyes roaming the room for the cause of the distress. None of them, however, managed to spot a thing. Liz was truly confused now and looked down at herself to verify that it was truly they who had lost their minds. Instead, she found her eyes not hitting anything but the floor beneath her feet, regardless of the fact that she could feel her body in it's way.

Liz took a very deep breath and focused on the other people in the room from the corner in which she now stood to look at the chaos that she had ensued. Aragorn, Frodo and Legolas were trying to convince the rest of just having heard voices, while their audience denied it to be possible. They all had looks on their faces as though they feared for the sanity of their friends. 

One last thing she wanted to do before she went, though. She took Pippin's wrist gently and made it whack Merry upside the head before scurrying out. The last thing she heard was the beginnings of Pippin protesting that something had made him do it and apologizing before Merry became too enraged.

It was not until she had gotten back to her room when she finally took the cloak off. She looked carefully at the material, realizing that it had all of the characteristics now of the invisibility cloak of the one in Harry Potter. _But this is a cloak from Lord of the Rings, elven made by hair, not fur. What is going on?_ She laid the cloak gently on the foot of the bed and fell asleep with questions swimming through her mind, but also with a feeling of having repaid them for their treachery.


	13. Gandalf's Return

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Yay! Sugar is good, viva sugar! Yeah, I have very little to say right now…

They were brought around the next afternoon to be set to whichever tasks they would be best suited for. The girls looked warily at the list prepared for them and shrugged at the possibilities as they went to see them all at work. The Queen's ladies in waiting were set to do specific tasks for the queen alone, it seemed and none of them particularly liked the prospect of having that upon their shoulders.

"This sucks, you know that?" Leigh said looking over the list. "I can't do any of this stuff. What's a bursar, anyway? Or a squire? Aren't you supposed to be a boy to do that? Liz, what are you so happy about?"

Liz simply let out an all knowing smile and returned her gaze back to the sheet. The rest of the girls shot curious glances around to each other, wondering if anyone else knew what she had done. "What did you do?" Janet demanded. "And why didn't you tell _me_ about it? I could have helped! Tell me!"

Nicole was counting something on her fingers. "If we stay here we'll find out in seven minutes and forty two seconds."

"Forty one, forty…" Ruth began and started counting backwards to keep time. They returned their attention back to the list and tried to find something that they could do here that might ensure that they could stay here without losing their minds. Or, at the very least, keep up the guise of wanting to be here. The boring jobs on the list, however, seemed endless and there was no room for going out and running errands in town or in any other parts of the castle as of yet.

As Ruth got to the last ten seconds, everyone began to quietly chant. As the last second was said, the door opened to reveal a few members from the Fellowship. Frodo, Pippin, Legolas and Aragorn looked to each of them accusingly with searching eyes. Pippin looked a little worse for wear and they all looked as though they had gotten very little sleep the previous night. "Which one of you-"

"What happened?" Janet asked worriedly at seeing Legolas in such a terrible condition. Worry was not something that she liked seeing in her favorite elf. "Are you okay?" As usual he seemed to ignore her, but upon closer inspection he was indeed feeling much better for her concern. 

"Which one of you slipped into the meeting room last night?" he asked, looking especially closely at Liz. He seemed quite sure it was her, regardless of the inquisition. "We know it was one of you, it could have only been one of you. I request the one that did this step forward."

None of them moved, but stood there in puzzlement instead. They exchanged looks with each other in suspicion, and gave Liz an approving look for the obvious trouble caused. "Okay, so before someone confesses to something, what did we do?" Louise asked. 

"Oh, here you are," Merry said, stepping in the door. He looked at the scene in slight disbelief. "Are you actually accusing them of this? This whole matter has just made you go a little infirm. Except for you, Pip. You've always been that way."

"So _what_ happened?" Nicole asked, growing annoyed that no one was telling them.

"These three started hearing voices," he said, indicating Frodo, Aragorn and Legolas. "Strange ones, I take it, considering the way they were acting. Pip, on the other hand, decided to take advantage of the situation and hit me upside the head and blame it on the ghost or voice or whatever it was."

"It was not our imaginations," Legolas protested. "There was another presence in the room. Liz, if I am not mistaken. Only elves and the Istari could have found a way to not appear before so many people."

*But Elrond said I had no magic of my own,* Liz countered innocently. *You all were there at the council when he said so. He would know, wouldn't he? I mean, he is the all mighty supreme elf king or whatever in Rivendell and has powers enough to see if another has magic.*

"Well, you've been plotting against us the whole way here!" Pippin put in as a desperate attempt at a counter argument. Judging by the looks that he was getting from both sides, however, he got the feeling that he should have remained quiet. "What's a fanfic?" he asked in a very small voice.

"Ha, even _I_ know what a fanfic is," Leigh said proudly. "It's a story written based on another story that someone else wrote."

*I thought you guys were eavesdropping on us,* Liz muttered. *But why did you think we were plotting against you? Yeah, we're new to Middle-Earth and would probably walk off a cliff into a volcano while looking for a way home without someone to show us the way. Smart.* 

"No it isn't," Pippin said, missing the sarcasm. Merry, standing next to him, seemed to struggle against the urge to hit his cousin for such stupidity. Instead, he explained that she didn't mean it and ushered him out of the room.

The girls could not keep it in any longer and began to laugh at the fact that one half of the Fellowship had thought the other to have gone mad. A few patted Liz on the back and congratulated her, asking what she had done to manage it.

"How did you-Do you have the ring?" Frodo's eyes seemed to become suspicious and greedy, ready to pounce on her if she answered wrongly. 

Liz chose not to notice this looking them all mockingly. *Is it _my_ fault that you chose not to notice that I was standing right there in front of you? I mean, elven cloaks are good, but not _that_ good at hiding people. I think you all have just gone blind or something.*

"She'll deny any involvement of this," Louise put in, "under penalty of extreme pain. But go ahead and try to make her confess later to everyone. She won't, will you, Liz?" The last words seemed like a friendly threat that Liz was more than willing to go along with at the moment. This would be fun.

They all received glares from the three and did not shy away from them. Instead, they seemed to almost bask in them and the fact that one of their number had managed to cause such chaos. They smiled back devilishly, regaining their composure after so much laughter and waiting for them to make some sort of move.

"Well," Ruth said after their staring contest began to turn into a stalemate, "we still have to pick jobs for around the castle. Unless you have anything else to tell us…." She left it open-ended for dramatic purposes, but made a subtle hint towards the door.

Still flustered, they left without anything to say. They had lost this battle with out them so much as lifting a finger, but they did note the fact that every single one of them seemed a bit surprised at the accusation, as though none realized it had happened. On Liz it was the greatest surprise. 

"You shouldn't have gotten them so mad," Kathy said. "What did you do, anyway?" An accusing stare turned to Liz, who only shrugged and pointed to her throat. Kathy let out an exasperated sigh and looked back to the sheet. They continued on the rest of the day with a slight bounce in their step from excitement and anticipation to hear what happened from Liz later that night.

They gathered around closely in the evening in Janet's room, the room farthest from the Queen's prying ears, to hear story. Celebwen was there, anxious as they were to hear the tale. Slowly, Liz went through everything that happened, excluding both exactly what she said and her speculation of the cloak actually changing. They erupted into uproarious laughter in no time and even Celebwen, who seemed like such a serious person despite the smile she always wore, was laughing as hard as the rest of them. 

"What is so funny?" Arwen asked, peeking her head in the door. The group had been laughing for nearly ten minutes now and were showing no sign of stopping. She looked to all of their faces, perplexed.

Celebwen managed to regain herself before the rest and rose to curtsy to her queen before a smile splitting across her face. "We were just discussing a few interesting events in each of our lives, Majesty. It turns out that these girls have led quite a humorous life before they came here."

"You need not call me 'Majesty', Celebwen," Arwen said with a smile. "We were friends as children and I would hope we could still be now. Formalities are not necessary amongst friends lest it be a formal occasion."

*And we never call her 'Majesty' because it's just too weird after the books and the movie,* Liz put in during a lapse in her own laughter, though she was soon back with her friends, gasping for breath between laughs as it began to wear down at last.

Arwen simply smiled again and closed the door, not sure she really wanted to know yet of why they were laughing so much. She had to sleep, anyway, and would ask them exactly what had brought them so much mirth in the morning, if they managed to settle down from their laughter enough to sleep that night. 

Eventually, they did calm down and went off to their own rooms for lights out, visions of what had happened running through their minds and leaving them with very pleasant dreams that night. 

It was two weeks later when Liz awoke in the middle of the night with the feeling of eyes on her. She sleepily blinked her eyes awake to find a gray clad figure standing in the corner of her room. Confused, she propped herself up slightly to find that it was not a trick of the light and shadows to create the figure, but an actual person in her room. What would bring anyone into her room at night? Moreover, who was it? None of her friends had gray cloaks, or a pointy hat, or a long beard…

*Gandalf!* she exclaimed, recognizing him at last, and not happy in the least about his appearance in her rooms.

"I see you're finally awake," he observed offhandedly.

*I see you're in my room without my consent!* she yelled at him, causing him to jump. She brought herself out of bed and began to back him out of her room, dressed in what would have passed for a long summer dress where she came from, but here served as a nightgown.

*You should know by _your_ age to _never_ go into a girls' room without her consent-* she said heatedly, backing him into the door, thinking while she talked. 

__

If only we could have been transported to, like, a Tamora Pierce world- 

*-and _never_ wake me up this early, whatever the reason-* 

__

-Like the one with Alanna in it, then maybe I could have had the gift or something and- 

*Now get OUT!* she cried at last, after she had backed him into the door. Her arm came out at the last word, with the intention of reinforcing her order for him to leave, and a ball of crimson magic came from it, hitting Gandalf squarely in the chest. He flew out the doors, slamming them open in the process, and hit the wall on the other side of the hall hard. 

Shaking slightly, Liz backed away. *Okay, this is one messed up dream. Last night wasn't, but this _has_ to be. Last night I didn't fall asleep before that happened. Gandalf's not back for a few days yet, Arwen said so. He wouldn't have come to me, anyway. Would have gone to Frodo. Yeah, that's it. I'll wake up and see it's all a dream and I'll just be happy. Yes, happy dreams now.* She slipped back into bed and let sleep overtake her, still shivering.

The castle was buzzing the next morning with rumors about what had happened the previous night. Many people in the wing had heard the commotion, but thought better of going to investigate. There were theories being shot around, like the King and queen had a spat or a small band of Orcs had managed to break in and one of the Ladies in Waiting had managed to subdue them before they reached the King and Queen. 

Liz, herself, actively engaged in the exchanging of these rumors and could hardly remember what had happened the previous night. Just some vague memory of a gray figure and a crimson light, now only as clear as a dream to her. She was all for the speculations, enjoying all of the stories and being able to intertwine them together to create larger rumors. 

Today she wore beneath her wide sleeves the wrist holsters with the knives. Finally, she had managed to get the fastenings right the previous night before going to sleep, making her more happy today. In fact, all of the girls were wearing smiles today that would not wash away, the memory of what Liz had done to their dear Fellowship members still playing over in their minds.

It surprised them to find that, from each of their separate jobs around the castle, they were summoned together. Confused, they trickled into the discussion hall that Liz had infiltrated two nights ago, looking to each other as though one of them must know what was bringing them here. They had thought this a meeting for the ladies in waiting to the queen, but found that none of the others besides the girls who had traveled with the Fellowship were brought. Even Kathy stayed where she was.

The Fellowship came in shortly after Louise wandered in, most of them stern-faced, though a couple wore broad smiles that resembled those on the girls. Some of them went into giggle fits at the sight of those victim to the prank, though were smart to try and hide it and at least try and regain composure. Looks were shot around on both sides, trying to discern what had brought them all here.

"It's about time you all learned to dress properly," Gimli said approvingly at the dresses they all were fiddling with subconsciously. They glared at him, but he only cracked a triumphant smile. "Why did you summon us here? Out with it already."

"No, why'd _you_ bring _us_ here," Leigh countered, matching his glare with one of her own. It just went downhill soon after that, speculations and arguments erupting from both sides over why they were all here. Liz sat out of it, confused beyond reason at what had really brought them here and figuring that the guys would not be doing this and not bring their case forward right away.

A gray figure appeared in the door way, looking at the scene with quiet laughter. He cleared his throat a few times, even yelled to try and get the group's attention to no avail. The room became dark and lightning cracked behind him in the doorway, causing everyone to jump and fall silent, looking directly at the familiar face from so long ago.

"I am sorry for taking so long, Shadowfax was not near until after I arrived," Gandalf explained, taking a seat. "Now, what has brought so much argument to you? I wish to hear all that has happened since my departure. My discoveries from Isengard can wait for a time."

Slowly, they managed to get through their tales, interrupting and contradicting each other along the way. They managed to cut out many of the incriminating details along the ways that might compromise one thing or another. The matter of the three hearing voices and Pippin striking Merry caused laughter amongst the girls and the four victim to the prank having to defend themselves and their own sanity to Gandalf. 

Gandalf chuckled softly at the conclusion of the story. "It seems that your mutiny has backfired on you," he observed. "And why would you think that these girls would not try and repay you for what you have done? Even in Rivendell when they were offered, they refused to wear skirts or dresses. They have done splendidly, however, I must say. Had I not known better, I would have thought that you three were truly insane. But on to other matters."

"They actually heard voices?" Merry asked, dumbfounded. "And Pippin didn't actually mean to strike me? But how could any one of them come into the room in full light and done such a thing without any of us seeing."

"That brings me to what I discovered in Isengard," Gandalf said. "It appears that much has been lost since the fall of the original Isengard, but enough remained for my research. It seems that there was an ancient Prophesy in old elvish that we have been over looking for many years."

At this, Liz rolled her eyes in annoyance. Janet leaned over to Leigh and Louise and explained, "Classic fanfic cliché. Next will probably be something about strangers from a foreign land."

"It told of travelers who would come from a place not anywhere near ours in any respect and they would be the- What, might I ask, is so very funny?"

The girls were falling into fits of laughter at the fact that Janet was so very correct and that Liz seemed to be silently saying everything Gandalf was. *Oh, nothing. It's just that this part is so predictable,* Liz explained. *Next, you will say something along the lines of, 'They would be the signal that danger was at hand and that a new dark power was rising in Mordor. The ring will slowly be reforged as a new Fellowship, a company divided, set out for it's destruction before it was too far along in the crafting.' Would you like me to continue?* 

Frodo, who had been translating, was smiling along with everyone else at the accuracy of the words. They did indeed sound quite like what Gandalf might have been leading to. "Is she right, Gandalf?" he asked the man, who seemed to be souring in his mood.

"I do not appreciate being made a mockery of," he stated tightly.

"But that was such a cliché," Janet pointed out, acting as though she thought everyone would know this. "It's always _some_ old prophesy that foretells of doom and destruction and of new people coming or whatever. So, get to the part where you tell us who is trying to bring back the ring, already."

Gandalf sighed in annoyance. "Were you not females I would probably smite you," he informed them. "Radagast the Brown is the one bringing back the ring, another member of the Istari. With it he can bring back the Nine and one among us would be susceptible to become one of them." Gave a cold look at Aragorn, in quiet warning of what may happen should they fail. He waited until the King nodded his understanding before he continued. 

"Radagast has been creating orcs with animal enhancements. The animals always served him well before and he has no need to leave them behind in his new conquests. Whatever has possessed him to take up such ambitions is well beyond my knowledge and how he managed to get so far."

"Which one was Radagast in the movie?" Leigh asked Janet and Nicole.

"He wasn't in the movie," Janet said. "They cut him out like Bombadil and Glorfindel. Or did he only appear in the second book? Can't remember, but he had a _very_ small part in the books."

"Hey, Gandalf?" Louise asked. "Do you know what happened last night?"

"Isn't that a little off topic?" Sam asked.

"I know perfectly well what happened," Gandalf replied. "I'm surprised you don't already know. I would have thought Liz would have already told you all about it."

*Me?* Liz asked in disbelief. *I think I slept through it. All I remember about last night was this weird dream about a gray person and crimson light. Unless you were- but that would be stupid. You wouldn't come into my room or anything at night, that would be idiotic, and I'm sure I never left it. And where does the crimson stuff come in?*

"_Now_ I know better than to venture into the den of a sleeping female for any reason," he commented. "Do you not remember any more than that? I was hoping to find the source you used to create that flame."

"What?" Janet asked, growing confused at what had just been revealed. "You mean Liz caused all that noise last nigh blasting you out of her room or something? Why does _she_ gets magic?"

*Hey, I didn't even _know_ about it,* Liz countered. *Okay, I didn't know until the tree thing, but that might have been fluke. I mean, the author _could_ have been trying to make this a crossover, right?*

A few doubtful looks were shot at her from her friends that managed to understand the translation. Others looked at her dumbfounded, as though Frodo had translated it into Telrio rather than English. The rest of them were even more lost at the talk of the author.

"Liz, you probably already know that you are what is referred to as a literary wizard," Gandalf said, hoping that it would help explain something. "It was also mentioned in the prophesy you seemed to know so very much about. You are able to use the powers mentioned in stories, or change similar items into ones from tales that you have heard. You did not know this?"

*For the five billionth time, there is no magic in my world.*

Tara has been counting on her fingers at the urgings of Louis, Leigh and Ruth. She put down her hands and looked at all of them. As the room fell silent at Liz's last words, she said, "We're going to be attacked in two hours."


	14. Attack on Minas Tirith

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Okay, I was dying to write this. It's past eleven now and I just finished, so some of this will not make sense, I don't think. Sorry, and I'll fix that if you point out which parts.

They were up in arms in under an hour. Between Aragorn and Arwen, they had managed to organize the entire army to be ready for a full scale attack and gotten everyone in safe confinements for the duration of the fight. Arwen now acted as warden to make sure no one went out to retrieve something they had forgotten or to try and help the soldiers prepare for the fight to come.

Ruth, Louise and Leigh pulled away from the group to talk quietly amongst themselves. They, too had been put underground for the fight. They had been talking long with the rings, or rather been listening to their rings talk to them, and now were conferencing over what they had heard while their rings held a whispered conversation heard only be themselves and their possessors.

"Vilya's going to at least not change me anymore," Ruth said thankfully, not bothering to mention the fact that it had only changed her into an elf once before. "Whatever your rings said to it, it's nicer now. But it wants to go out there."

"Same here," Louise said. "Narya said something about missing being in the action. I don't think I want to stick around and find out what it does when it's mad. I'm going out there."

"Nenya sounds like she's already planning how to get rid of me for chickening out on this," Leigh said, looking around for an escape already. She was definitely more afraid of Nenya's anger than of any fight that may be the initiation of a war. "Hey, over there," she suggested, pointing to a doorway half covered by a tapestry.

They filed out that door, going quietly and drawing no attention to themselves as they. Finding it unlocked and leading to a winding stair long overgrown with cobwebs and dust had collected long on the steps making them slippery, they began on their long trek up to the top of an ancient tower.

Liz had meandered off herself. She could not talk to her friends at the moment, though she dearly wanted to. She was anxious about the upcoming fight and did not wish to be trapped down here by any means. She was a literary wizard, surely she could contribute without getting involved in the actual fighting. If only she could find a way out.

She wandered away through doors that were not blocked off into room after room of people, some families huddled closely together, others filled with newly wed women who were now wondering if they would soon be widowed. She came to a door with no one behind it, but found something far more interesting there instead. She found, laid out on the table in the center, a number of wooden crates that were half packed. 

Growing curious, she went through them, shifting the straw to the side while keeping it inside the crate and found the first had a few items of clothing, a pack and a bow and arrow. _These are the things they took from Janet_, she realized. She went through three more boxes; Nicole's, Ruth's and Leigh's, before she found her own. She drew out the shirt and pants, the comfortable boots and the sword, looking at them with a speechless smile.

Uncaring of whether or not she would be walked in on, she went to the corner of the room and changed into the clothes, now clean despite the occasional bit of straw. She strapped the sword to her side and threw the pack on her back, ridding herself of everything but food and clothing. She put the clothes she had been wearing back into the crate and covered it again in straw. She did the same with the rest of the crates until it looked as it did when she entered. She then proceeded more stealthily onto the next room. 

It wasn't until a few halls and rooms later, long after she had become completely lost, when she found another room which seemed to serve as a chute to carry food or other necessary commodities to other levels. She found the box which would have held the items was lowered to this level and decided to see it rather as a very small manual elevator. She climbed in and began to pull herself up to another floor.

Nicole and Janet looked around to find that everyone had gone off and left them behind, though they did not know quite where they had slipped off to. They had been talking of old times, and what would be next in the series that Nicole was presently engrossed in at school. Janet had given up testing the limits to what she read at home was. 

"Hey, so what's going to happen up there?" Janet asked suddenly. 

"Hard to say," Nicole replied, numbers and factors going through her head at the question. She had been thinking of it for a while before she had been asked and she only put more effort into her calculations now as she tried to puzzle it out. "We are going to win, but there's going to be a lot of losses. The orcs are going to back off after the mist becomes too much to bear and the- What? This doesn't make any sense."

"What?" Janet asked, not seeing much of a problem. "The weather is going to go all weird and make them back off? That's great! Now, what happens to Legolas? Is he going to get hurt in all of this?"

"Grazed shoulder from an axe," she replied. She fiddled with the dress again, this being the first time in years that she had worn one and not liking having to endure it every day. She let out a frustrated noise. "I'm going to find pants, wanna come?"

"Yes, yes I do," Janet replied controlling her excitement for now. She followed Nicole on a wayward path to rooms with varying numbers of people, although that number seemed to lessen the farther they got. Finally, they found themselves in a room with a number of crates in the center of a large table. 

"Yours is that one," Nicole said, pointing to the closest one. She went along until she found her own and pulled it off of the table. They both went through and cheered as they found things they thought forever lost within the straw. Janet immediately returned her bow and quiver to her back while Nicole struggled to find a place on the dress to strap the vial Galadriel had given her.

They took turns changing, setting up a curtain in the corner from the blankets in their own bags. They stood much more contently in their jeans and long sleeved shirts, cloak draped around them to keep them warm should things become cold or to hide in these halls if they needed to.

"Hey, Janet?" Nicole asked suddenly as she went through the contents of her bag. "What did you think of Radagast from the books?"

"He talked to animals," Janet replied, trying to think of a more decent answer. "He was never really mentioned. Just a bit about he found out information and he was kind of a loner, staying in the wild with the animals most of the time. Why?"

"We need to find Aragorn, or Arwen, or someone in charge of the armies," she said. "The attack is a decoy for something else, but I don't know what. Um, this way." She led them once more through the maze of rooms and hallways until they encountered Arwen in one of them.

"Why are you not in your dresses?" she asked curiously, she herself in riding clothes. "What has happened?"

"We have to get to Aragorn," Janet explained quickly. "The attack isn't what they are actually trying to do. Nicole's trying to figure out the real reason right now, but this fight's a decoy to keep our eyes off of whatever they are actually trying to do."

Arwen nodded, paying close attention and summing them up to see if they were telling the truth or not. "Come with me," she said curtly, leading the way up to where the army was gathering and getting ready to meet the enemy.

Liz reached the floor she wanted, recognizing one of the rooms at last. She stepped lightly out into the Queen's bedroom and made her way out the door. Making her way to her own room, she stopped first in the seamstress' work room and gathered as much strong string and leather as she could find. 

In her own room she worked quickly, ignoring the first few pangs of rain on the window as she created more places to put her knives. Utilizing the power that Sandry had in Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic series, she willed the string to sew itself together, then to attach the knife sheath to it. After she finished, she threw her cloak around her shoulders and threw the rest of the spare lembas into her pack before setting off for one of the towers. From there, she would work her magic on the battlefield.

Nicole and Janet had followed in Arwen's wake until they finally met Aragorn. Quickly, Nicole explained what the opposing side's plans were and that the weather would change from this subtle rain to something much more horrible, directed at the other side, and to watch for it.

"Be fortunate that you're predictions have yet to be wrong," he commented at the end of her warnings. "This seems like a work of the imagination that may never come to pass. Do you know yet who will be manipulating the forces of nature so?"

"That would be Leigh, Louise and Ruth," Janet said matter of factually. "Because they have the elven rings, right? Galadriel mentioned it."

The trio had made it up to the top of the tower to find themselves standing on a very high parapet with rain sprinkling down on them. The rings had been able to encourage them, their first time in ever doing so, to continue despite their trembling height and the falls that they suffered on the way up. The now looked out onto to horizon and saw the orc army approaching swiftly.

"I thought it would have been bigger," Louise commented while watching their approach. "So, what do we do now?"

"We control the weather," Ruth said. "I think." She began to concentrate and let the power of Vilya flow through her and as she did so, she felt the winds and gained control over them. Leigh followed, finding strength in the rain that was beginning to pour. Louise drew on the fires and torches that both armies held aloft, as well as the heat that seemed to be pouring from the earth itself.

They pushed back the rain and began their work to keep it falling only on the enemy. Louise was trying to summon enough heat to turn the rain to a mist, then to a fog so that the orcs would be blind to attacks hurled at them by archers.

Liz, try as she might, could not find her way through the castle, settling finally for a balcony which overlooked where they would be coming from. She looked out and down to see that the army was beginning their short trek out now to meet them, and that the rain seemed to be shifting to elsewhere. Perhaps someone else was playing with the weather. She would have to be careful in her choices for what she would do today.

Aragorn led the troops out, Janet at the head but far from Aragorn so he would not notice, along with the line of archers. Afterwards, she would fall back and stay with Nicole, who was now in the rear ranks with the lesser trained warriors that had come out. The orcs they met here were of a normal breed, not crossed like so many of the others that they had encountered along the way. Janet let off three shots before falling back and letting the professionals do the fighting.

It was fifteen minutes into the battle and Liz was growing impatient, waiting for something to do to come to her. The clouds were moving slowly to the orc's side, but not quickly enough for her. *Tris, from Circle of Magic,* she said, making sure whoever was granting her these powers knew where her source was. She began to help the force, who or whatever it was, push the rain back so that they could continue on with whatever plans they had.

Leigh and Ruth started with surprise. "Someone's helping us," Ruth said in confusion, but continued on her task. Louise was growing bored of her own job and began to set a few flames wild amongst the orcs, letting it catch on their clothing and passing it along to a few around them while she waited for the rain to be in place.

Once the rain was where it was supposed to be, Liz watched as the rain slowly began to turn to mist in amazement. She, herself, began to summon a little more power from within herself and sent a great bolt of lightning down to the farther reaches of the orc army.

Nicole and Janet marveled at the wonders that they had done with the weather and how well controlled it was. The mist, now becoming a fog, formed a wall right behind the first four lines of orc troops, leaving the rest blind to the arrow showers that were periodically sent their way. The crashes of lightning seemed to be strategically placed to wipe out larger clumps of troops that may cause problems later. Janet even moved up a little to help out the archers, though Nicole stayed where she was, trying still to figure out what it was they were truly after.

Ruth and Leigh were beginning to tire, becoming mentally and physically worn out from the chore. Louise kept going, not having done much until the rain was in place and not tired yet. They all wondered how much longer they would have to keep this up and who the person sending the lightning was.

Nicole looked back to see where everyone was on the castle and how they were keeping up, despite the fact that long distances meant that they were only specs. There were three on a parapet and another standing in a balcony a few floors below and far to their right. In the sky she saw a number of unusually large birds, eight of them, flying in a passive V shape. _Orcs!_ Nicole realized. _Those weird ones with the wings, but what…_ She looked at their path and saw their target. She knew now that there was no chance to rescue her before it was too late.

Liz could feel support for the rain and wind being pulled away and bore the extra weight with some difficulty. She was growing tired now herself, finding that lightning was most draining when you did not have a large amount of anger to back it up. Still, she managed it, and hoped that the other who had borne it before would quickly regain their strength.

She almost did not notice when the flying orcs attacked her. Her support to the wall she drew back as slowly as she could, flicking out her knives quickly and throwing them at the enemy she now faced. One she killed on the spot, the knife going straight through his throat. The others, she was not as lucky, only hitting them in the arm or leg, or even only getting the feathers in the wings. 

She was nearly out of knives when they flew in, swarming her. She drew her sword to try and fend them off, but found it to be of no use when surrounded by so many. One of them slammed into her with a dagger, plunging it into her lower left abdomen. She doubled over in pain, dodging another dagger which now only grazed her head. The chain around her forehead that Galadriel had given her fell daintily to the ground. Liz, however, blanked before it hit the stones beneath her feet and knew nothing more of it.


	15. Journey to the Dark Lands

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Okay, anyone who notices any more mistakes, tell me please. Working on too many stories now and am messing up more and more. Now, enjoy the fluff!

Bearing their wounded, the soldiers returned to the castle in relatively high spirits over their victory. With a sudden burst of strength, the mists had become a whirlwind and the orcs had retreated after seeing such forces. Fires burst behind them as they dropped their weapons and retreated, the steel on rock enough for Louise to make a flame. Very few people thought to look up and see that there were dark figures flying above bearing another.

The three on the parapets were retrieved with considerable difficulty, as none quite knew where the entrance was and only heard of it through a considerable amount of word of mouth. They were leaning against the walls in exhaustion, never having exerted themselves in that way before much less that exuberantly. Dazed and weakened, they were brought back down to the infirmary for rest.

Nicole and Janet, aside from being muddied and cold, were in perfect health. Janet was the only one of the two of them who had seen any of the fighting and only from a distance in the archer lines. They now set to work helping those who most needed tending, Janet finding Legolas in an instant to mend the predicted shoulder wound.

Though Frodo had stayed out of the fighting because of an odd illness of the heart, the rest of the hobbits had not. They had collected a few minor injuries as well, as had almost everyone on the field who were in the upper and middle ranks that had survived. As soon as anyone was healed, they were set to work helping the rest if they were able.

The Fellowship was called together a few hours after they had returned home, the tension among them building. Most of them had a bandage or two on them from the fight but were in good spirits despite them. "What was this thing they were really after when they attacked?" Merry asked, tired of dodging around the topic and wanting to go for dinner. The sun had set only moments ago and they were already for some well deserved food and rest. They had already been in this meeting for half an hour swapping battle stories.

"Excuse me," a voice said, peering in the door. It was Elrond, a look of slight confusion on his face and a trinket in his hand. "I believe that this may belong to one of you. This looks to be a craft of Galadriel's. It was in my balcony along with blood that is not mine and strange black feathers."

He left the item, a fine white silver chain with a single gem dangling at the end of it, on the table and left. Every single one of them recognized it in an instant and gawked. "They were after Liz," Nicole said finally, head lowered slightly, no surprise in her voice. "I don't know why, but they were after her all along."

"How long did you know?" Janet asked accusingly. 

"About ten minutes before it happened," Nicole said. "It was too late, no one could have saved her if they tried. Those weird flying orcs were going towards the castle and I figured it out. She's being taken to Radagast in Mordor now. I don't know anything else."

They dismissed themselves soon after that, casting looks at each other trying to figure out why. The hobbits had been pushed into the job of telling Leigh, Louise and Ruth when they woke up and none of them looked very happy about it. If they could manage what they did on the battlefield, what might their anger towards the messengers be?

They took what advice they could from Nicole and Janet, to appear as cute as possible so they would not even think of retaliating on them, and that they probably would not do anything like that anyway. A little warily, all four of the hobbits managed to explain the situation to the girls the next morning. They had only woken up an hour ago and anxious for food, but did not like the sounds of the news they had brought. They, however, seemed to already know.

A small investigation was conducted to try and figure out what happened, barring Elrond from his room. In the end, all they could figure was that there had been a struggle, Liz had fought back, they had seen the body of the orc with a knife through it's throat below, as well as a few other knives which paths had not been true, and then been struck. The headband had probably been knocked off, but they could not be sure. Then, she had been carried away.

"Curse the flying creatures," Aragorn muttered, finding himself at a considerable loss as to figure out exactly what had happened. "Had they gone by ground I would be able to better know what has come to pass. I cannot read the wind to determine the paths of birds."

"I can," Ruth said, standing silently behind him in Sam's wake. "But it's useless now, she's already gone. We have to concentrate on getting her back, not how she left. I already know that, we watched those things fly off with her. Are you going to help or what? The Fellowship has to go out anyway pretty soon, or else the ring's going to be back. Frodo isn't looking so good, so it's almost done now."

Sam nodded his affirmation, his own hand playing with a nonexistent ring on his finger. "I can feel it too, Mister Strider. Sooner it's done the better, and we can find a way to get rid of that ring once and for all."

Aragorn nodded. "The Fellowship will set out two days from now," he told them, though his face showed that he was torn over something. "Try and rest until then, we have all seen what Mordor holds, or most of us have. These may be the last few rest days we get for a long time."

Sam let out an involuntary shudder and he left with Ruth following. She looked back to try and discern from his face what was bothering Aragorn so much, but decided that she would know soon enough. The two of them left the room to tell the others what they had learned. 

"Worried about leaving Minas Tirith when the threat of attack is so near?" Gandalf asked after the pair had departed. "It is your decision whether or not to depart to Mordor and leave Faramir and Arwen to the protection of the city and all of the western lands, but no one knows how they may fare."

"Would I that I could this time follow into the heart of Mordor without obligation or responsibilities to tend to," he said regretfully. "I sometimes miss the days as a simple Ranger, with none of these to tend to. I shall speak with those who I would deem worthy in my place before making my decision." He backed away from the balcony, looking at the scene one last time. "My skills, it seems, have gone soft. I cannot tell all that I once could."

After a number of debates and meetings, the Fellowship's number was now at thirteen, Leigh insisting finally after days of changing her mind that she would come because Louise was going. Gimli cursed at the bad luck of their number, but most of them were quick to assure him that his superstition would worsen their fortune at all.

"You know," Leigh said just before they left, getting ready to mount her horse, "we _could_ always bring Kathy along." Gimli shuddered at the aspect even more at the fact that he did at the fact that he now had to ride a horse into Mordor. He had gotten the impression from her that she was much to feminine in her ways to be of any use on any venture.

They were on their way in almost no time, having a few problems with the horses on the way out. Many of their numbers were unfamiliar with the creatures and had to be taught quickly how to maneuver and request different speeds of them. Between ponies and horses and their gear, which was mostly elvish in make due to the suggestions of Sam and Frodo, they seemed unusually inconspicuous.

They were always on guard for anything that might cause them problems, taking a very roundabout way to their destination and yet still encountering a troop before the end of the first day. They were lesser trained, a scout group, and easily disposed of. They found a spot to spend the night soon after that, this time letting the girls share guard duty with another who was experienced in it.

They spent the days in perpetual silence, thinking about what lay ahead and dreading it. They stopped only to rest their horses and for meals. They dodged various orcs, not wanting to put up with them at the moment, and hunted for their meals despite Sam and Frodo assuring them that they could probably find rabbits and such once in Mordor.

Their days continued like this until they reached the river. They all sat along the banks, trying to catch something, the girls huddling close together. This was the first time that they had all together in days to talk without prying ears. They compared notes as to what they had learned of the fanfic author and tried to help Nicole with figuring out what would happen next. 

"Plotting against us again, are we?" Gimli asked, coming up behind them with a fish on the end of the line. He seemed very smug about catching the five of them in private conversation. "I would think you would be grateful for allowing you to come."

"I would think that you would know how to be courteous to ladies," Janet countered. "But, then again, you are a dwarf. Elves are _much_ better at things like that."

"Oh! I think I got something!" Ruth cried, feeling a tug on the line. Janet and Gimli continued in a staring match as she plucked a large fish from the waters, letting it flop around and catch the light as it tried to pull itself free on the end. 

"Add it to the pile," Nicole said, indicating a moderately large pile of fish they had caught laid out on a canvas. "How are we going to cross the river, Gimli? You guys don't really tell us anything."

"Gimli," Legolas called to him. Seeing that his friend was busy in conversation, he came over and saw the girls' catch. "How long have all of you been doing this?" he asked curiously, seeming surprised that they had managed to pull all of this off.

There were a wide assortment of answers, from a few years to this being their first time. He watched in interest as Ruth found a worm and attached it onto the end of the line before letting it down into the water again. 

"Ah, so that is your secret," he said, satisfied. "We have been using bits of bread all of this time. I never would have thought that they might like worms better. But come, that is more than enough to last us for a while. We should begin work on the rafts."

"They don't like Gimli a lot," Leigh muttered to Janet as they followed them, bringing their catch along with them. It seemed quite true, Gimli had always been overshadowed in everything but combat by Legolas, where they were equals. He was chauvinistic, an odd approach to take, but told them more about the author.

They spent a day and a half on the construction of the rafts, making them big enough to carry themselves as well as the horses. The fish were dried and preserved in this time, ensuring that they would have meat to eat once in the dark lands. Frodo seemed to become paler as the days wore on and take on a darker demeanor, as though resisting the call of power. Sam had begun to fall into the same pattern, feeling the pulls of the ring as it came closer and closer to it's completion.

"Any complications when we make the pass?" Gandalf asked Nicole as they prepared to make the trip that nightfall. 

"None," she said after a moment. "Only the current, it is stronger at night, and I know how we can fix that." She hinted over towards Leigh and Gandalf nodded his approval.

They made all of their last minute preparations, Nicole managing to get in a word with Leigh first. She watched in amazement as Leigh seemed to talk to her finger, nothing that Nicole could see on it, and come to the conclusion that she would help however she could. The trip across was smooth, no sign of any problems and the current was unusually easy going. 

They spent a few more hours travelling in the dark, trying to gain as much land as they could before settling down for the night so that they could reach the mountains, which acted as a natural barrier around Mordor, as soon as possible. 


	16. Insanity Setting In

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it

A/N: What is up with me and these huge titled names? Meh, I'll figure it out one of these days. On with the chap!

The mountains towered over them menacingly, bringing back haunting memories for two of their company. Sam and Frodo seemed to get less and less sleep every night, and grew more ill each day. They could feel the presence of the ring, drawing them in tempting them anew with the power. Sam was less affected by it, though he had possessed the ring for a considerably shorter time.

Despite everyone's insistence that this would not be like last time, they were not calmed. The girls grew increasingly nervous at their behavior, never having been before themselves and, though Janet and Nicole knew the books well, none of them quite knew what to expect. 

"We have to go through the mountains," Gandalf concluded finally. "Radagast will have spies everywhere throughout the lands, but we will have a better chance of getting in with less problems and with more maneuverability if we go through the passes rather than trying to slip through one of the main gates."

Aragorn nodded and looked back to Minas Tirith in worry. He was still not particularly happy about leaving it in such a time of need, but it had been decided that he would better serve in this venture and that Faramir would be able to deal with the problems that may appear well enough on his own. Arwen assured him privately that she would send word somehow if there were any problems.

"How many mountains are we actually going to go over?" Leigh asked curiously. "Or are we just going between all of them?"

"Depends on how much we encounter," Janet replied before anyone else got a chance. "Unless, of course, you would prefer taking on a ton of genetically altered orcs over going over a couple of mountains."

"That is a disgusting thing to have done to them," Legolas agreed, not quite sure what the term meant but sure that his understanding was close enough. "No creature deserves something such as that to happen to them. Whatever has possessed Radagast? He used to have such a love and respect for animals."

Janet looked as though she may melt at any moment, staring up at Legolas longingly and emitting a noise of pure happiness. She had said something he had agreed with, and he was not looking at her now as some pestering fangirl. She, of course, was not a fangirl, but Legolas may not know that, if he knew what a fangirl was at all.

Janet managed to regain her composure, melting back into it only periodically and letting the others have a chance to speak their minds on the subject. They ended up discussing the theoretic weak points on the altered orcs, and the best ways to go about avoiding them while they slunk into Mordor.

They began through the mountains in the morning, letting all but one horse roam free. Shadowfax, Gandalf's faithful white steed, bore Frodo, the former ring bearer, who was becoming more weakened by the day from resisting the call of the ring. He was at the point where he began to lapse into points of insanity, thinking that other members were hiding the ring from him. Sam was also beginning to show the first signs of fatigue from holding out against the ring as well.

Under the guide of Gandalf, Aragorn and Legolas, the managed through the first day without an encounter with any troops or other problems than the normal ones of back pains from carrying the larger amounts of food in their bags. The girls persisted in their training that night, using long sticks however, instead of their swords which might draw attention. Sam was deemed unfit to help out Leigh, so Pippin and Merry took on the job themselves, though found themselves in for much more than they anticipated. 

They continued on the next day, finding the already limited greenery whither and die with every step until, by midday, there was not so much as a twig to little the ground or to create a fire with. The mood was on sharp decline from there, before the fact that there was something living had cheered them slightly is such a morbid place. It, however, did not seem to affect the girls so much as they had spent most of their lives in schools where they had to look longingly out the window as torture while trying to cram useless information into their minds. They had become far more used to the lack in life in their years, after having to block it out in their daily lives.

"You took my ring!" Frodo exclaimed, directing his comment this time at Leigh. His face became contorted, blue eyes retracting until they showed little of the pupil and a dark shadow passing over it. "It's mine! My precious…"

She pulled her hand with Nenya close to her, as though trying to hide it and keep it safe. "I don't have _your_ ring," she told him plainly. "I just have this one, which isn't yours. It's mine. It's name is Nenya and it doesn't like you."

"Nenya rests on the finger of Galadriel. The one on your finger is _my_ ring! How dare you steal it from me!" Frodo countered heatedly. She was suddenly thankful that people no longer were paying attention to any of Frodo's outbursts, though she was unclear as to why. 

He shifted in the saddle until he was able to dismount from the horse. Taking a leap, he landed directly in the center of a large puddle of water, one of the few things that brought any hope of life. It splashed in a wide circumference, hitting all in range which was limited now to himself, the horse, and Leigh. 

Leigh flinched at the water coming at her, trying to duck away from it, when it stopped a hand span from her and fell away. A feeling of sheer disgust, as though there were worms crawling over her skin, made her shiver. Nenya had prevented actual contact with the water, she knew somehow that it would have been worse if that had happened. The after effect of the action, however, seemed like an ill alternative.

Frodo's eyes widened, returning fully to normal, at the display. Awe and regret filled them quickly and he began on profuse apologies to her over his actions. "It was the call of the ring, I can feel it here. I am sorry, it is affecting me the nearer we come. I should not have come, should have stayed behind. What is wrong?"

"Nothing," Leigh said, nodding to his apology in acceptance. She rubbed her arms as though to keep the invisible bugs she felt from crawling any more. She helped Frodo remount as he looked as though he was going to fall over from exertion against a sudden onslaught of the call of the ring, then went to walk with Louise instead.

"Hey, can I see it?" Janet asked curiously. Leigh lifted a hand so that she could see, but Janet just stared in confusion. "I think it's on the other hand," she informed her.

Louise looked over and looked to Janet with a furrowed brow. "No it's not," she said. "It's right there." She pointed to, what seemed to Janet a vacant bit of her finger. Janet looked a little more closely, finding that there did seem to be something there, but it was too faint to make any conclusive judgement on her part. 

"The air feels funny here," Ruth commented, looking at the darkening skies. She looked around searchingly, as though something might come out and give her a reason for it. "What's wrong here?"

"It's Mordor," Sam replied, shivering as though to shed off some unseen force. "The orcs kill each other so they can become the leader. No one here knows who is on which side. They have to fend for themselves and somehow remain united under someone who dictates with an iron grip. Everything is wrong."

"This was why Galadriel and Elrond tried to avoid ventures to the dark lands," Gandalf remarked. "They also avoided becoming one with the ring in any way, though it appears that neither of you were aware of the implications when you picked up the rings. You will be more in touch now with your elements, and how terrible they are here. It will only get worse from here, you two, and I am unsure if you can now turn back. A warning to you both."

Leigh and Ruth nodded mournfully, now wishing that they had stayed behind. They stuck closer to the main group after that, unwilling to fall behind or to be left helpless should they feel a sudden wave of 'grossness' as Leigh termed it. Louise looked at them a little strangely, wondering why she was feeling none of these horrible things, but knowing that she was probably better off for it.

At one point they came to a fork in the paths, each leading to equally dismal looking trails and both leading to the same place. They turned to Nicole for advice on where to go. She had yet to be wrong to find a safe path, almost hauntingly accurate. As she scribbles numbers, letters and equations into the path, it seemed as though she would not be wrong again this time.

"Left, tiny pitiful orc troop," Nicole said, looking back up at them after long calculations. "They will attack us. Right, there's a larger one on the ridge above us that won't do a thing, even if we light a fire and blow smoke in their faces or anything. Take your pick."


	17. Path Not Taken

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Okay, I'm sorry if this chapter turned out badly, I lost my train of thought and forgot where I was going with it. And thanks to Dana, who helped me with this chapter, even though she knows absolutely nothing about the story!

After a short deliberation among everyone, they agreed to take the path with the larger troop which would not other them at all to the smaller troop looking for a fight. None were really much up for it, the dreariness of the land and the odd behavior of some of their members more than enough for them to deal with at the moment. 

Those with the curse of the rings split off a bit from the main group, taking comfort in the fact that they all had something similar happening to them, though Louise was still confused as to what was really affecting them. Narya had told her vaguely that the rings were connected to the environment that surrounded them and the wearers would feel physically how bad their element was doing where they were. Louise could only shrug and accept this.

Those not ring afflicted were discussing the best ways through Mordor, if they were going to try and remain unseen. Only Gandalf having any real experience, however limited, in these lands, was able to really advise them as to paths to tread and what to do for disguises. They would be simple enough to come by for Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf, but the rest would have problems. 

"There are no easily obtainable items of clothing for girls here and the hobbits are too small for orc clothing. That, however, has actually yet to stop them," Gandalf added, glancing at Frodo and Sam. "Though, if you would not mind donning men's clothing, it would not be a problem. It seems that it has yet to be a problem."

"I guess," Janet agreed, a little uneasy about wearing something that an orc had worn before, and likely had not washed in any way for as long as he had possessed it. As disgusting as it was, however, she would probably do it to keep herself from harm. They would all get used to the smell eventually, right?

Gandalf migrated from group to group after that decision, offering whatever words he could to both groups and trying especially to calm the nerves of those under what he had termed 'ring fever'. He himself had never experienced it, though he understood what was going on. It seemed to some, however, as though he was using their symptoms more like a gauge to tell things that they had yet to know.

The night was quiet, eerily so. There were no animals or outwardly sounds at all this night, not even so much as a chortle or guffaw from the orcs on the edge of the ridge overlooking the little ravine they now camped in. It was nerve-wracking for all those on guard duty that night to constantly look about at the slightest breath finally released from someone else unable to hold it any longer. They were all afraid to break the silence and nothing was heard aside from the soft snores and quiet murmurings of a few of their comrades. Even those seemed strangely subdued in the silence of the land.

A shot in the early hours of the morning where the oddly cold sun was just beginning to peer over the mountaintops brought everyone quickly awake. Leigh had been on guard and nodding off when it grazed by her arm, bringing her abruptly awake with a loud high pitched yelp that no one could sleep through if they tried. 

They had been cut off from escape, the orcs having moved down from the ridge and into the small pass at some point during the night. Nicole was quick to figure out that if they continued on down the trail much farther, there would be another patrol waiting, bigger than this one and altered to specific animals again. 

Curses went through them as they came quickly to arms and arrows began to shoot back and forth, trying to take out as much of the opposing side as possible before resorting to armed combat. It, however, did not take them long to realize that both sides were simply waiting for the other to make some move and come out from behind the rocks first. They sat in a stalemate for a time, the sun slowly illuminating the area as they conserved arrows and waited.

They could do nothing sitting around like this, and it was beginning to wear on the patience of a few of them. Louise looked over at them, peering out from behind a rock in annoyance and was abruptly warned off with an arrow. She, however, managed to catch a glimpse of a flickering orange light, a fire behind them. A slight smile crept across her face as a plan formed and Narya seemed to agree.

A dragon made entirely out of flame seemed to rise from the fire menacingly. The surprised gasps from the Fellowship seemed to cause the orcs to look behind them to see the flame dragon from the fire and to cause them to leave their hiding spot, running from what they seemed to believe an evil spirit. It chased them out into the open, making them easy prey for Aragorn, Legolas and Janet to knock off quickly.

"Behind!" Nicole called suddenly. She had kept her head down the entire time, scratching numbers into the dirt and letting everyone else worry about the attackers rather, while she tried to figure out what was to come. "There's more coming behind us! The weird ones, and there's three dozen of them!"

Curses were heard as they got rid of the last archer. Their camp had been packed up at the start of the assault, and better stored during the stalemate. Now they moved, incredibly subdued, to try and get out of the pass and out of the way of the attack from the rear. It made it more difficult to run and cut down on their maneuverability as they were trying to dodge and attack the remaining orcs before them. 

The new troop arrived much more quickly than they anticipated. They had just passed the last orc when they appeared in full charge. It was almost as though they knew that they would find a fight there, weapons brandished before they even saw them and war calls breaking out as soon as they came into view. The Fellowship tried to retreat quickly, but they were caught in a maelstrom of arms before they got too far.

Fighting desperately, the weight on their backs not helping them in the least, they tried to escape to safety. A few of them, like Gimli and Legolas, seemed to have a faint enjoyment of the battle, coming to the aid of the girls who were not as seasoned and keeping careful track of the surprisingly few that they managed to knock off. Leigh was under their constant guard, she being unable to bring up her sword to strike another. Janet had managed to evade a number of them and pick up a number of arrows along the way, getting to a high point and trying to pick them off one by one. 

The orcs would fall at their hands, but the ones who died with their heads still attached to their torsos would come back to life again after a few moments, fully revived and not tired in the least. The battle slowly began to affect them both physically and mentally. 

Gandalf simply grew annoyed and struck his staff hard on the earth, causing a small chasm to open, the bottom no where in sight. A few of the orcs fell deep to their deaths and he managed to catch Louise, who nearly stumbled to her death. After that he began to craft spells to combat them, to make their attackers immobile.

There was a call from above, three figures flying in the air above like vultures with menacingly black wings. The guttural language of the orcs was nearly indecipherable to most of their ears, but Gandalf's eyes seemed to widen in surprise over their words. "Take the strange ones…?"

The orcs took them on in a large rush, trying to knock a number of them unconscious with the but of their weapons,. It seemed that they, however, were just as confused as Gandalf as to just what their superiors were speaking of. They picked up a few of them and wondered if this was a 'strange one' or not, never having seen anything like the girls or the hobbits before in their lives.

The ones in the air saw the confusion below, the fighting and looking among the Fellowship, the orcs constantly turning to each other to figure out which ones were the strange ones. They all looked to each other and swooped down, determined to do this job themselves, though they knew little about which was and was not strange. 

The first flew down into the fray and plucked a hobbit out of the clutches of one of their own men who had picked him up for closer examination. The orc's claws were tipped with a slight poison, as were all of the flying orcs, which caused Pippin to go immediately limp and helpless as he was taken up out of range of any weapons.

The second went to the side, nearly clipping his wing on the wall, and tried to take one engaged in combat with an orc. A fire ran up the length of her sword, showering her opponent with a fire until it engulfed him entirely. The flying orc came up behind the odd girl and picked her up, his talons sinking into her arms. She dropped the sword and fell limp as she was carried off.

The third went after what he thought would be the easiest of prey. Janet sat perched atop the rock, picking off various orcs and running quickly out of arrows. She would offer little resistance, surely. As he dove, however, it seemed that she was best protected. He artfully dodged many arrows that flew at him from somewhere within the fray. 

Janet was not even paying attention to the things happening just above her. She was busy looking through the battle below to find those most in need of help to pick off, painfully aware already of her depleting source of arrows. She shot at those most threatening as she saw them, until she saw from the side of her vision that a blonde figure fell from her sight. She saw Leigh backing off behind Gandalf, which only left one alternative.

"Legolas!" she cried, shooting the orc responsible only a heartbeat later through the eye. He fell, and Legolas rose a short distance away, taking another orc out from behind. She breathed a sigh of relief to find that he was alright and faintly heard the sound of flapping wings above her. Her hand moved to an arrow, only to find that none were left. She looked up to see a large dark figure towering over her and her hand went to her sword. The talons, however, sank deeply into her arms as her hand touched the hilt and she knew no more.


	18. Aftermath

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Sorry for the delay in the chapter, I was having technical difficulties. As in, I took a crash course in how to fix your computer when it decides to reformat all of the programs and layouts on it. 

"I'm never going to do that again," Nicole promised herself. The Fellowship had managed to get away quickly after that, the majority of the seemingly invincible troops retreating after abducting three of their members. They were now taking the other route, but Nicole refused to say anything about the path. "I'm blind here, I can't tell anything. I'm not telling the future again. There aren't enough factors that I know to include in the probability."

"But we may need to know things in advance from time to time," Aragorn argued, not yet willing to give up the once source they had for any information that might become useful, though he was running out of arguments while she still had many left, though they were incomprehensible to him. "We may need to know if there is an ambush ahead or of an attack from behind."

"Leave her alone, Strider," Merry piped in. "This is her decision to make, not yours. She'll do what's best in the end." He sighed, a bit embarrassed at his outburst and went back to fixing the bandage on his leg. 

"Although, she has yet to be wrong still," Gandalf said quietly. "They did not bother us at all throughout the night, though they most certainly did once the morning came."

"Don't remind us," Ruth said irritably as Frodo fixed a bandage around her still bleeding arm. "How did those things keep coming back? They were crossed with something, but I couldn't exactly tell what when they were trying to rip my head off."

"They looked like snakes or something," Leigh put in quietly. She had managed to strike only one when it threatened her, but had mostly hid behind those unafraid to fight after that as she tried to make her way out. "Scaly and stuff."

"They mighta been part reptile," Sam said, gardeners knowledge coming into use. "The don't stay down for long after you try to get rid of 'em and they never seem to notice when you've hurt them."

"They might have had their pain receptors removed, too," Nicole suggested, glad that the conversation had changed direction away from her. "That way they wouldn't feel it when they were hit, but went down because it seemed like they should."

Gimli nodded. "They certainly are stupid enough to do that," he said. "All that work put into them and they are still without the brainpower to light a fire."

"We should try to get to the other path by nightfall," Gandlf declared, seeing that everyone had been more or less tended to and was still able to walk, "so that we can continue. It seems that the one we have been travelling is not worth the trouble of a single night without any problems."

Sore and feeling quite downtrodden within, they gathered their things lamely and began anew on their trek. Those worse injured now were given privilege to use the horse rather than Frodo who had no injuries that would physically lame him. Conversation was at a halt, the only sound breaking the silence of the mountains being their breathing and the occasional whimper from various pains that they had picked up. Even Frodo did not voice his outbursts from the calling of the ring among the tension. Once or twice, Gandalf and Aragorn dared to break it for short periods of time, conferencing about what they would do next and ideas on how to get one thing or another done, though those were short lived due to the prying ears.

They did not quite know how they continued on for so long without losing their minds. It was monotonous, the task of putting one foot before the other as they drowned themselves in thought to forget their wounds. How did they know that the ones that were taken weren't already dead? And had they picked off them specifically, or were they random because of the obscure orders? Most importantly, who was next?

Most managed to reason that they would have been killed on the spot if they were wanted dead. No, they were prisoners now, chosen for some specific reason that they could not now see. The orcs had no idea what they were doing in taking them, their orders too obscure to make appropriate judgement, if they had that capability to begin with. If they came back, one of the girls or the hobbits would be gone from their number.

They made for camp that night having gotten back and were now passing through the other pass, still not saying a word to anyone. A few of them simply laid out their bed rolls and collapsed into them in exhaustion. This whole day was mentally and physically draining for most of them, some though still showed no ill effect to it and simply took it as something that was inevitable.

Legolas and Aragorn, the only ones not quite able to fall asleep so soon, kept watch for the first half of the night, watching the alarmingly quiet darkness and listening for anything that might come as a welcome break from it. They ended up finding nothing besides the crackling of the pitiful fire, barely enough to light their faces when they leaned over it, and talked softly so as not to startle the others to awaken.

"What has left you so quiet this day, my friend?" Aragorn asked a little concern. He had not said a word all day, not even to Gimli when he was trying to compare numbers of slain orcs. True enough, the activity was pointless as the majority of them would not die, but it still seemed odd.

Still he remained silent, eyes prodding deeply into the dying fire as though he expected that it would show him visions of the manner that he wanted to see, but none would come to him. He closed his eyes and shook his head a bit, before returning his attention back to the fire.

"What made you like her so?" Aragorn asked finally, trying anything he could to bring up conversation.

"She was more honest than the rest that I have known and loved," Legolas said. "I have known a great many and loved but a few of them, but none were so open. They were constantly trying to conceal feelings to be polite. It is quite unnerving to have to guess at the feelings of women who have spent their lives learning and perfecting the arts of masking them. But this girl, Janet, she has no reservations of that sort, and that both fascinates and intrigues me in such an odd way."

"You love her because she is different from the rest," Aragorn stated. "And now that she is gone, you feel that you should have told her sooner. Did you fear that she would shy away and be like the rest should she know?"

"Perhaps. How do I know that it would have happened otherwise? No man has ever been able to totally understand the opposite gender, and I suppose that is the way it will be until the ends of time."

They sat for the rest of the time in the near silence amidst the soft snores and mutterings of their comrades until Nicole sat straight up, scared untimely out of her dream, but still more afraid to break the silence. She caught Aragorn and Legolas' sharp looks in her direction, their eyes both glowing eerily in the dimness of the embers. With a slight sigh, she accepted that she would probably not fall back asleep and joined them around what was once a fire. Legolas took this as his relief of duty, seeing that Aragorn did not want to give up his watch just yet.

Nicole waited on baited breath, knowing somehow that he was soon going to ask her to reconsider her decision. She did not have to do any calculations, she could just tell somehow. She could feel the tension build, it was only a few seconds now before he would come out and ask it, and she could not figure out quite how she could tell without doing the calculations required.

"Will you not reconsider your decision?" Aragorn asked.

"No," she replied calmly, "I got my own friends kidnapped by those, flying orc things. I can't afford to do that again, not until I know a lot more. Like, everything there is to know about Mordor."

"I thought that you knew all of our travels throughout Middle-Earth. All that talk of movies and books made of us, it was as though you had access to all knowledge on the subject."

"I didn't pay any attention to Mordor," Nicole admitted. "I didn't really like it all that much, it was really boring in the essays and stuff that I found so I didn't bother. And there is almost _nothing_ on Radagast in there _anywhere_. This author couldn't have chosen some other person I know, or a cliché evil villain. They had to pick one that I wouldn't recognize."

Aragorn seemed as though he might have said something, but he became confused by the talk of cliched villains and authors. The girls had spoken of those quite often, but none of the original Fellowship could ever quite understand what they were speaking of, especially the notion they had adapted that this was not the true Middle-Earth. 

"You may not have a long term sight into the future here," Aragorn began carefully, "but that does not necessarily mean that you should stop trying to see entirely. Perhaps you could try again one day when you realize that this was not a mistake entirely on your part. It was ours too."

"And you have not spoken wrongly yet," Gandalf reminded her, coming behind them from the shadows. "You told us exactly what awaited us the night down both paths and did not cast a vote yourself insisting one path would be better than the other. I, myself, could have done little better." 

"But you don't have evil glares being shot at you because Janet, Louise and Pippin are gone," she countered. "You'd think from the way Merry tends to complain about him that he wouldn't be so sad about him being gone."

"Would you feel the same should one of your younger sisters be missing in his stead?" Gandalf asked with raised eyebrows.

Nicole's eyes narrowed suspiciously, trying to spot the wizard among the near black shadows. "How do you know about my sisters?"

"The Istari know a great many things that no others do," he replied cryptically. "Both of you should get some rest, Gimli and I shall take over for the remainder of the night. He indicated the dwarf rising from his bedroll and shooed them both off as though they were very small children. Aragorn looked at him a moment as though he might remind the wizard that he was a king, but held his tongue as he obeyed. 


	19. The Depths of Mordor

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it

A/N: I seem to have lost most of my reviewers. Unless they aren't reviewing because they have nothing to say. *shrug* Or maybe you have all moved on to bigger and better stories. *sniff* Okay, enough with this…

Pippin was the first to come to, finding himself at the bottom of a pile of bodies in a cell. He wormed his way out to find that the pile was not quite as big as it seemed, only two other people were there. Oddly enough, he seemed to recognize them as two of the girls from the Fellowship, Janet and Louise. This was very odd, normally they split up the male and female prisoners. He sat against the wall trying to figure out the situation while his head cleared.

Slowly, though he was unsure of how long in this place, the other two came around with heavy groans and equally heavy headaches. They looked up to the hole in the wall that admitted very little light a bit longingly, though they knew that they would not be able to climb that sheer wall to reach it.

"Where are we, exactly?" Louise finally asked, clear of the fact that they were prisoners, but unsure of who would want to take them captive. 

"I'm guessing somewhere in Mordor," Pippin said matter-of-factually. "Probably in a dungeon guarded by orcs."

"Oh really? You think?" Louise said sarcastically. "Tell us something else we already know."

"At least we aren't marching this time," Pippin said with a slightly pleased air. "If only my arms didn't feel like dead weight, I'd be fine. Are the two of you all right? I don't suppose you know what happened…"

"It was those flying orc things," Janet said. Or at least, that was the last thing I remember before blacking out. How long have we been out for? And can we get a little more light in here? I want to see why my arms are killing me."

"Light?" Louise asked, bringing a small flame into her hand to illuminate further the area. They saw each other clearly, their clothing dirty and torn, but intact and serviceable. All of them had identical scrapes running across their arms which had a slightly purple tinge to them now from healing. They surmised that they had been carried here, most likely, the entire way. They had no other hurts or sores, it seemed, besides those they had gotten from the fight. 

There were grunts and footsteps approaching from high above. Pippin quickly urged Louise to extinguish her flame just before two heads peered down at them. A torch was held out before them, then dropped to illuminate the floor so that they could see the condition of their prisoners. Janet had to scramble out of the way before it hit her and it sent light into all corners of the room, thankfully not illuminating skeletons of past visitors.

A few grunts sounded above, almost sounding like a disagreement. A few moments later three boxes rained down on them, each landing with a small thud around the torch, somehow knowing not to land on the flame even though they all looked as though they would. The grunts them left, and their orcs along with them.

Pippin was the first to pick up one of the boxes to examine it, Louise grabbing the torch to better illuminate it. It was plain brown wrapping tied with a simple bit of twine over something else that was soft, but rectangular and box-like still. Pippin's eyes lit up slightly, seeming to know without opening it what it was. "Cram!"

"You're actually happy about that?" Janet asked for clarity, unsure if she had read his tone correctly. "Isn't that stuff supposed to be tasteless and really annoying to eat after a while?"

"You have obviously never had orc hospitality before," Pippin stated, carefully unwrapping the package and handing each of them a slice. "Food is a good thing to get, and food that is not orc-made is probably the best thing you could ever hope for, even if it tastes like paper after a while." He set down the rest of the package and took a bite of his own slice, feeling some of his strength return with it.

They ate it and it came as a bit of a surprise to Janet and Louise that it tasted somewhat like fruitcake, except without the bits of candied fruit in it. A small reminder of home in this dismal place, no matter what kind of memory it brought, gave them some hope of getting back home and out of Middle-Earth all together. This adventure had become a bit too dangerous for their liking a while back.

They put aside the rest of the cram, saving it for another time when they would need it, and talked in the torchlight of reasons they had been brought here only to find themselves in the end with less of an idea than they had started with. All possibilities they tried seem to lead to dead ends, no matter how probable they seemed in the beginning.

As the torchlight began to fade away into nothingness, another head popped in the door. This time, it looked to be little more than a dark shadow with a rider. It floated down towards them and stopped shortly above. A net flung out over them and they were hoisted roughly out of the hole they were put in and up farther to fresher air, though the light only improved very slightly when they reached the higher levels. 

It was, however, quite hard to see when they were piled together and treated as little more than potatoes in a sack. They were partially grateful when they hit the floor of a room that they had flown into that was lighter than the rest. They rolled out and to their feet, taking full measure of their surroundings as well as the large contingent of guards surrounding them. It was a room of pure stone, all dark as the night and foreboding. The walls were lined with bookshelves and there was a desk at the far end, with a man all in brown sitting behind it as though he were king.

Radagast, for that was indeed who he was, wore the brown robes of his name still, though they were beginning to think he may change his color. He had a long beard and moustache of silvery white peppered with darker flecks to suggest he may not be quite as old as Gandalf, though otherwise they looked nearly identical.

"I was not expecting to find a hobbit amongst these strangers, but I suppose there are ways that I can bring this to my own advantage. Perhaps you shall be first to prove that you are worth keeping around and not killing on the spot." A number of orcs around them drew their weapons slightly, those that did not already have them fully drawn and at the ready.

Pippin stiffened slightly but kept a defiant demeanor. Janet and Louise looked to each other, then to the orcs around them with the glint of the weapons reflecting off of some unseen power source. They hid the fear from their faces and let only their curiosity towards their task here show.

Radagast smiled at their unease. "I suppose you are all yearning to know what it is you were brought here for. It is a simple task that none of those here in Mordor can perform, unfortunately. All you must do to keep your heads is to tell tales of magic."

The three of them nearly fell over at the request, so ridiculous that they were tempted to burst out into sheer laughter. The orcs and the atmosphere around them, however, caused them to stifle it as best they could. Pippin was able only to surpress it to a quiet laugh, loud enough for Radagast to hear, but soft enough for him to continue on with his criteria for their lives during their stay.

"You think it so very easy?" he asked, his smile taking on a cruel edge. "These tales are not for my ears but those of another, one that has heard many others before, one that will be my ring bearer as I do not wish to do the will of Sauron, but still control the power that the ring wields. If you tell one that is already known, then you lose you life. I suppose the little one still wants to be the first to try his luck?"

Pippin was not yet daunted, and still trying to hide a smile from the wizard. "If that is all that I have to do, then it still remains your choice. I am more than willing to take a try at this. I see why you needed our help, the company you keep to be a little empty-headed. Where is this whatever I have to tell the story to?"

Radagast gave him an appraising look, the cruelties of his smile leaking into his eyes. "Right through this door," he said finally, a hint of cold laughter in his voice. He indicated a small door to his right. "All of you please, I must return to my work." He made an odd gesture with his hand and the three found themselves being escorted through the door by about a dozen orcs. 

The room was quite small, a square of dark stone lit by two torches at the door which cast deep shadows about. Three stools stood in the center, wooden and termite ridden, looking as though they may fall apart at any given moment. They looked about for the one they were to be telling the story to, but found no one.

"Isn't there supposed to be someone else in here?" Louise asked curiously, eyes still looking about the room to find some trace of other life within. Small as the room may have been, there were so many secrets that remained outside the small circle of light and deep within the shadows that concealed the walls.

An old, haggard soul stepped into the edge of the light, annoyance radiating from him as though they were making his task much more difficult than it should be. "Sit and tell your tale, do not worry about who you tell it to," he said sharply, looking as though he may send one of the orcs on them should they delay much further. 

"Wonder why _he's_ here," Louise muttered to the other two. 

"Probably to make sure we actually do our job," Janet murmured back. "I agree with Pippin, these orcs look too stupid to recognize a plot if it came up and bit their head off."

Pippin began on the first idea that came to mind, a variation on Bilbo's tale which he was sure no one could have possibly heard beyond the council. It began with a hobbit going about his daily life until there was a knock on the door to reveal a strange wizard that he had heard many tales of and yet had never seen before. 

There was a soft voice said something and it echoed indecipherably throughout the room. There was no feeling in it, though it sounded female, a voice that should by most means have not been there speaking in a tongue that they could not decipher amongst the echoes.

"Did they just say 'vay perinath'?" Janet asked no one in particular, looking around for the voice. 

"Periannath in elvish is hobbits," Pippin commented, recognizing the word form his highly limited elvish vocabulary. "But who would speak elvish in Mordor?"

The old man came once more out from the shadows. "You are not here to talk amongst yourselves. That story has already been heard before. It would do you well to remember that. You will begin a new tale or else have your head separated from your body."

Janet took a breath and began another story, the story of how she met Black Dragon, her mentor and kidnapper from the time of her childhood. She tried to go into as much detail as she could, occasionally prompted by Louise and Pippin's questions. She told of their minor fights over the years and their few adventures and whatever else she could think of until the orcs came back out from the shadows and brought them roughly back out in the middle of another one of Janet and Black Dragon's exploits.

Soon after they were roughly tossed back into their cell, they lit the torch anew using the ring in Louise's possession and began to wonder at what had just happened. Janet had more or less saved them all and Pippin had fallen into a contemplative silence over how whoever it was had already known dear old Bilbo's tale already, as he never let many people see inside his large red book. Even Frodo, who now had it, rarely let people see much unless he needed an opinion or someone to edit. 

"Liz!" he exclaimed suddenly, everything falling into place. The fact that there was an elvish speaking female in Mordor should have tipped him off immediately. Also, where she was from, they already knew what happened with the destruction of the ring. Surely they must know what had happened to Bilbo and how he came to the ring as well. "It's Liz up there, and she has the ring."


	20. Voice of Rings

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Wahoo! Another chapter! *is very happy* And what's all that about putting _this_ on a website? Might I suggest you find a story better than this one, because there are a lot of them.

"Just wear it, Leigh," Ruth growled at her, holding out the orcish garb they, or rather the hobbits, had managed to obtain from an encampment, relatively new and as of yet unworn by orcs. They had all grudgingly donned it above their own clothing, some with louder protests than others, but Leigh refused outright to wear something so grotesque.

"But it's all ewcky," she complained. 

__

Put on the damn thing or get out of this place, Nenya, the ring on her finger, growled at her with an unspoken promise to make the rest of her time here a living hell, despite the lack of energy the ring felt from being so separated from it's element. _I may be weak, but you most certainly should not now consider me a thing to trifle with._

With a slight whimper she shrugged the stuff on, knowing full well that Nenya would go through with her threat. The rest exchanged slightly confused looks, not hearing what the ring had said, but not wanting to question her sudden change in heart. Instead, they all hurried along on their way and sent their horses off, knowing that they could not use them where they were heading. They had just come out from the mountain ranges and were hoping to travel the minor paths to Mount Doom and Barad-Dur. 

__

Nenya certainly can be helpful at times, despite her temper, Vilya said from Ruth's finger. _She was the one who ended up bringing us back to the lands of Middle-Earth, insisting that we should go back to our masters, that they did not give us up by their own free will. Such a temper when you disagree, though._

"You're a lot more talkative now that you can't do anything," Ruth commented offhandedly in such a quiet voice that only the ring could know what she said. "Or rather, won't do anything."

__

Maybe it's because we have little to do to distract us from all the desolation around us, Vilya suggested. _Or maybe the fact that so few people can even see us makes conversation a little difficult. _

Ruth let out a quiet laugh at the obviousness of the statement and the light-hearted manner the ring told her. She drew a few odd looks, her laughter a strange sound in the dark place. She just smiled back and bowed her head a bit to hide it from any prying eyes that might come to question. Most of her face was already covered by a heavy skull cap, but it was always good to be careful.

She looked over to Leigh who had a scowl on her face and was talking vigorously and quietly to her ring as though she had a phone connected to her finger. She was, however, being very quiet about it and obviously taking charge of the situation. It seemed about time that Nenya was put in it's place after it's many exploits. 

They paused on their trek to have a bit of the dried fish that they had caught, still good although the drying process by Nicole and Ruth's opinion should have been much longer. In the end, after seeing that it was properly done and they attributed it to the fact that this was not the true Middle-Earth, but that of the imagination of an author manipulating this world to their own whim. 

There were a few scattered encounters with random parties of orcs over the course of the next week or so, for they could never quite tell whether it was a week or a month or somewhere in between, none of which questioned the company much and kept their own heads down at the sight of them as though they feared them. Frodo and Sam's condition slowly deteriorated until they had to come to a complete stop under the cover of a field of dried out thorns.

The two hobbits rocked slowly to and fro, trying hard to resist the call of the ring so near to it's completion. This even affected Ruth and Leigh, but to a lesser extent as they never even laid eyes on the thing. Only their rings told them of the one ring's progress and they affected the way they felt daily. The two who had actually once borne the ring before were now too far gone to even tell that they were among friends. 

They spent three uneasy days looking over them, at one point having to bind their hands and feet to make sure that they could not attack any of the members they thought had the ring. Merry looked haggard, trying longer than the rest and more vigorously to make the two of them come back to themselves in the times when they were quiet and seemed unknowing of the world around them. 

"It seemed only a matter of time before they would realize the hold the one ring had over them," Gandalf commented sadly, looking back to Merry, who was speaking to the two of them in hopes that they would hear. Gandalf turned his attention to Ruth and Leigh. "What surprises me is how long you two have lasted. None of the others who have borne your rings would have ever made it so far. I would dearly like to know what has changed."

"I don't know," Leigh said. "Nenya talks all weird and doesn't say anything much besides ordering people around."

__

It's because we're drawing off of you, Nenya told her with a regretful tone heavy in it's voice. _You, oddly enough, have some sort of immunity to all of this pollution. All we have to do is adapt to you._

"Oh, it's because we're immune," Leigh told Gandalf.

"They're drawing off of us now," Ruth added, obviously having heard the same message from Vilya. "We come from a place that's as polluted as this so we're not affected by it like the old owners might have been, or even you guys."

"Yeah, you guys have all seemed like you were sick since you got here," Leigh observed. "But I didn't want to mention it. You're all macho and stuff, so you guys probably wouldn't have cared if we said anything."

Those paying attention to the conversation let out a laugh at this. "The girl knows more of the truth than she lets on," Gimli commented good-naturedly. The dwarf had become a bit kinder to the girls since the attack was made on them and two more of their friends had been taken away. 

"Why weren't _you_ surprised that day that they took Liz?" Nicole asked suddenly, a memory coming to her from more or less no where. "Gandalf, did you know?"

Galdalf stiffened very slightly, then loosened before anyone had time to notice. Turning to her, he regarded her with suspicion and curiosity for a time, as though trying to tell how she had come across this theory; or trying to buy a little time for something else to happen that would cause them all to forget the question. They waited in pure silence, neither side backing down or acting differently from what they intended.

A cry for help from Merry broke the tension, bringing all eyes over to the latest tantrum of Sam and Frodo. Instead they found the two gone and Merry disappearing into the thorns after them in pursuit. Gimli was quick and first after them, chopping away all of the tangles in his way. The rest followed soon after, but they all found themselves very quickly caught up in the higher branches and having to walk crouched.

The chase lasted only an hour before they found themselves lost and too far behind to catch up. Merry was a short ways in from, hanging off of the roof of a cavernous space formed beneath the vines. It seemed that Sam and Frodo and teamed up briefly to put him out of their way, then went on their separate ways to find the ring.

"They were fighting most of the way, it wasn't like them at all," Merry said in disbelief a short while after they had begun on their trek back to the camp. "What's happened to them? They used to be the best of friends and they just turned on each other as though they were worst enemies. All this over the ring. I do not know why we ever took part in this. Now that the ring has been brought back-"

"Wait, the ring is back now?" Nicole asked with a wide eyed curiosity and a hint of panic in her voice. This was most certainly not what they needed at the moment.

"That was the last coherent thing they said before they started fighting," Merry said, confirming the worst of their fears. "But we're close now to Barad-Dur, right? If we can get there before they do, maybe we can destroy it again before they can even look at it and this whole thing can become even worse."

"It is truly a disturbing thing when those two begin to fight," Legolas commented uneasily. "Surely such a thing must be an omen of such ill will that has never before been known. We should be prepared for a force equally terrible as the Paths of the Dead."

Gandalf nodded a bit and they hurried quickly the rest of the way back to the camp. They quickly gathered all of the essentials and left behind most everything else, going straight away without any more delay than was necessary.


	21. Unusual Meetings

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Aw shyte, this means that I have to think of an ending soon, doesn't it? Meh, I have time before that happens. I'll think of _something_. Does anyone else remember when this fic had no point to it?

Pippin was not quite in his accusation of Liz in control of the ring, but was close to it. Soon, as the completion of the ring drew nearer, she would be the possessor, but still a pawn to Radagast. Slowly, they were pulling the bits of the melted ring from the lava of the volcano, one molecule at a time, and they were nearly finished.

They still went every day for however long it was that they were in there and were very careful with their stories. She was, they remembered, a literary wizard and capable of using any power used in a story. They managed to get by with pitiful little stories about dragons making friend with bungling wizards who could make the flowers sing. 

They did not know how long they were in there for, with a pitiful light source and no way to tell night from day and a minute from an hour or an hour to a day. They were quick to give up their count, realizing it futile, and moved their thoughts instead to how to get out of there and destroy the ring again. 

"First we have to get out of this hole," Janet said, thinking out loud. "The only thing that ever comes in and out that isn't thrown at us is that thing with the orc on it. And we can't get rid of the orc if we have no weapons, so we're screwed that way."

"Uh, are you sure about that?" Louise asked, a flame flaring violently in her hand, stretching as high as Pippin before receding back into her palm for their small fire to talk by. She shot a triumphant look at Janet and smiled sweetly.

"Okay," Pippin said. "We have one weapon that will get us by until we find something for the rest of us. So what are we going to do? Burn out way out of the net, climb up and burn the orc so badly that he falls off?"

"Sounds good to me," Janet said, fully serious. "How about you?"

"Sure," Louise agreed. "Now who knows how to drive that big bird thing? Wait, what about those Riraams? Aren't they guarding this place? They could chase after us on the bird." She shuddered inwardly at the mention of the Moiriraamavoite, what they had dubbed the Riraams. They were the flying orcs that had captured them and, they learned, were only killed by elven weapons and no others.

"So we work on the plan a bit more," Pippin said with a sigh, giving in and realizing that their scheme was the only one they had to escape, "but the Riraams can't be _that_ fast with all of that armor and weaponry on them. That bird can be pretty swift with the right motivation, but only then. So, how do we make it move quickly and take us where we want it to?"

"With a carrot," Louise responded, not actually intending for it to be an answer. At the confused look, she explained, "Like with the donkey, they dangled that carrot in front of it."

"Hey, that bird did look pretty hungry the last time it came down here," Janet said. "How do you think it likes cram?"

Their plan came into place and they were more or less ready the next time the orc came down to pick them up for their next session. Their planning, however, turned out to be more or less unneeded. They found the orcish rider was so drunk that he was nearly falling out of his saddle and the bird was more than willing to get rid of him. They took their bundle of cram and convinced the bird to take them where they directed. The Riraam were not present at the entrance and all of the orcs seemed to be too full of ale to do anything to prevent them from doing anything. 

As they traveled the tunnels, they found no indication of where they were and were growing quite unnerved by it. Instead, they were catching a word or two here or there of what was going on and why all of the orcs were in such merriment. The ring was now made anew and on the finger of the bearer. This would be their last time to be as drunk as they wanted before they would go to war.

Eventually they came across a strip that seemed more or less empty. Aside from that, however, it was no different from the rest. They searched for some sort of exit, a light or a draft that might show the way. Instead, they caught sight of an orc moving through the tunnel. Growing more than a little aggravated at their lack of progress, Louise brought the bird to a total halt and brought a firewall up around the creature, preventing it's escape.

"Tell us the way out and maybe we won't torch you," Pippin offered threateningly, looking to the creature they had captured. He nearly jumped in surprise to find that it was not an orc, it was far too small. Instead they found a familiar hobbit in orc's clothing.

"Frodo?" Janet asked in near disbelief. "Where are the others? Is Legolas all right? What happened?"

The small hobbit looked up, eyes completely devoid of recognition and a blind fury imbedded in them as though something was drawing him elsewhere and telling him to use any means necessary to get there. His face was contorted and in the firelight they could see that it was almost transformed, much into one like Bilbo in the movie held when trying to see the ring again in Rivendell. He looked away from them quickly as though their eyes had hurt him and tried to find a way out of his fiery prison, circling the small area and reaching out tentatively to see if the fire would relent there, then recoil with a hiss.

Louise looked to the rest of them with both confusion and helplessness. No one really knew what to do, whether to let down the firewall and let the probably insane Frodo go free to run into the orcs or keep him in and risk him killing himself trying to get out. They did not know what had brought him here or where the others were, and the fact that Sam was not close by left them quite perplexed and no one had any clue as to what they should do.

The bird beneath them, growing fidgety with all of the waiting and took matters into it's own claws. Gingerly so as not to alarm it's passengers, it rose up and took flight, swooping back to pick up the little one in it's talons before flying away down the original path.

"Smart bird," Louise remarked as their speed seemed to pick up. "Do you think it knows where Liz and the ring are?" 

The bird made a sharp turn to the right and seemed to steer towards a set destination. All the while, there were violent protests from Frodo, flailing and trying to fight his way out of the bird's hold on him. He managed to somehow reach his sword and pierced the toe of the mighty bird. It let out a loud screech of pain as it dropped him, but stayed on course to their destination.

The three watched, horrified from the bird's back at their dropped passenger. The could see his slowly disappearing form getting up and coming in pursuit of them, or possibly of something they were after. Relieved that he was still alive at least, they continued on, peering into the darkness and gaining odd looks from strangely sober orcs.

"I told you to find them!" they heard a faint voice call from down at the end of the tunnel. The bird seemed to slow and go higher up into the darkening shadows of the canopy. It managed to find a ledge to land on in the pitch blackness and let them off, a silent thanks for the food and a reluctance to continue, obvious in his manner.

Grudgingly, they took inventory of what few supplies they had left on them. It didn't take long, just a package of cram, a short sword for each of them and the clothes on their backs. They made their way along the wide ledge and listened intently for any orcs that might travel these paths. All the while, they heard the shoutings of what Radagast, outraged over missing persons, themselves by the reference to the story tellers.

They went slowly, looking before and behind them continuously because they were not prepared for an assault. They knew something was following them, small form crouched behind the rocks and moving amongst the shadows cast by Louise's flame. They thought at first that it was a trick of their anxiety and imaginations, but it did not go away. 

"Who goes there?" Janet called so that whatever it was could hear, but soft enough for her voice not to reach the prying ears beneath them. Louise supported her by strengthening the flame and casting about in a wider circle.

An orc clad hobbit shied away from the light before letting out a cry and came out, deep rings around his eyes and a shake in every move. Pippin went up to him, asking Sam questions about what had happened. He seemed to have his sanity still, though it seemed much a frail thing. 

They took a break, sitting against the wall and giving Sam a few pieces of cram as his story slowly unfolded with a few lapses into a ring hungry creature that was so much like the one Frodo was now. His memory seemed to be stagnant due to the lapses he had gone into over the past week or so, but it served well enough.

It seemed that they had been about a day away from Barad-Dur, but at the rate they had been going they would have taken three to arrive. Both he and Frodo had been trying to fight off the call of the ring, but it was too strong in the end and they had run off. He had vague memories of pursuit and hanging Merry from the canopy of thorns and nearly broke down after that, realizing how badly he had acted. 

"It's okay Sam, you weren't yourself," Louise said, attempting to comfort him. "They'll forgive you. Don't worry about- Oh shoot, he's going into it again." She quickly withdrew her hand from his stiffening back and held her left hand in her right, hiding Narya.

"Ring!" Sam hissed, looking as though he was about to jump at Louise and try to get the ring he had in her possession. "It's mine! Preciousss…"

"Sam!" Pippin cried, locking Sam's arms behind him so that he could not do anything. "Sam, you don't want the ring! Remember all of the things we went through before to get rid of it? Would we have done all that if it were a good thing? And that's not even the ring."

Sam seemed to come out of it, shaking more than ever. "I'm sorry, sorry…" he said, seeming to withdraw into himself. "I didn't mean to, it's not safe with me here. I'll just go back as far as I can while I can before it happens again. Maybe that bird that helped you before can make sure I don't get too far."

He continued to mutter things as he went back, shaking every step of the way, like someone with little left for him. It was a sad sight, but they were able to let him continue on his own way and they went onwards. A few minutes later they heard fighting to their left and became curious. Coupled with their anxiety over Sam and Frodo, they went to see what was happening and hoping that it would make them forget about what they had seen.

From a cave opening that led to a straight drop down into an armory they saw that a battle raged below, though not as fierce as they had expected. Both sides were few and both seemed to be sluggish. They all seemed to be orcs at first glance, but it seemed this was not the case. Skull caps were knocked off from both sides and some of them sported long hair and the faces of friends. 

Leaning down a little, and with Louise and Pippin ensuring that she would not fall, Janet managed to grab hold of the tip of a bow and pulled it up. The arrows were too far out of her reach, but it did not matter. There was a small littering of them now from their use in the battle now, and previous ones where they had gone too high. They all gathered them up and Janet began taking aim and knocking off those most threatening.

Taking a closer look at their formation, Louise noticed something peculiar. The orcs were all nearly dead now, and she felt no danger of exposing them. "Hey!" she yelled down to those below. "You're going the wrong way!"

"I hear them!" the voice of Radagast sounded throughout the tunnels. "They draw near, capture them and bring them to me!"

"Louise!" Leigh said, a happy squeal over seeing that her friend was still alive.

"Don't worry," Nicole called up before anyone could say anything else about their appearance. "It echoes too much for them to find out where you are. Go up, we'll meet you there!"

"Any sign of Liz?" Ruth called up, catching their attention as they left. They hesitated a bit, debating over whether or not to say anything, before leaving completely as though they had never heard her. They would see soon enough, they would all see what had become of her.

Pippin, found the staircase first and led them up the winding tower for what they thought was far too long before it ended. They looked out to find that the stair ended and opened up to a long hallway, devoid of everything but rats and spiders that seemed to feed off of each other. Their muscles were weary from the journey up and seeing a spider sucking the blood out of a rat, and then having another rat bite off the spider's head did not particularly help to make them feel any better.

They peered through a thinner part of a wall that would turn into a hole at the touch. It was thin enough for them to peer into silently and see Radagast shuffling through sheets upon sheets of notes frantically. They went a little farther over to find the next hole was large enough for them to step through onto a ledge.

Louise extinguished the flame by closing her hand and they continued on with the light from the torches in the doorway. It stopped after about ten feet and they peered around in the darkness to catch a glimpse of something, almost tempted to ask Louise for light again.

Radagast came in, a stern look on his face. A figure came out of the shadows, floating on nothing and landing softly on her feet before him eerily still. Liz was little different than when they had left her. She still donned the same clothing more or less, though the upper left side of her pants were soaked in a wide circle of deep crimson that spread up to the lower bit of her shirt. They were almost certain that, had her movements not seemed so rigid and forced, she would have great pain moving that half of her body.

"I need you to go to Tirith Ungol," Radagast told her simply. "It seems that the battle being waged there is not going well. They have reinforcements that need to be gotten rid of. Make sure that Tirith Ungol falls and do not come back before that unless you are called."

They moved on the ledge to get a better look at her and were shocked at what they saw. True, she seemed no different from before, but that was before they saw her face. An emotionless look lay plastered on it with pure white unseeing eyes. They saw her nod once, silent words forming on her lips, before she disappeared from sight. 


	22. Tryst

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Hehe, I love the name for this chapter! All praise the mighty built in thesaurus! Okay, enough of that for now, and I'm sorry, but my next chapter will take a while because I have to start putting off homework for working on this…

Aragorn was in the lead when they found their way up the path where Pippin, Janet and Louise waited. There were a few heartfelt hellos, everyone happy to see that everyone else had not perished since they had last seen each other. They asked for servile things like how long it had been, though no one could really answer.

"Aragorn," Louise said a bit unsure of how to break it to him. "Uh, we have some bad news."

"Yeah," Janet said. "Minas Tirith is under attack. They're getting back up from the elves and the dwarves now, but Radagast seemed to really not like that and sent Liz after them with orders to not return until Minas Tirith ."

"Or until he recalled her himself," Pippin reminded her. "We're really sorry, but we couldn't do anything to stop them from where we were." He shuffled a little nervously, waiting for his reaction to the news.

Aragorn took the news well, simply nodding and accepting that it was probably inevitable. They were well prepared there and they had discussed the best means of fortifications before he had left. Now, he retreated slightly and into a more secluded place and sat down and hunched over in thought, back to everyone.

"Does Radagast have a palantir?" Gandalf asked. When none of the three who might know said no, he continued. "He actually sent out Liz, rather than going himself. That is his first mistake. How much does she know now? Enough to destroy an army? And where is the ring?"

"You say all of this as though we would know," Janet said lightly, trying futilely to brighten the dismal mood. 

"Liz has the ring, Mister Gandalf," Pippin said. Seeing the odd look that crossed Gandalf's face, he tried to elaborate. "He said something about not becoming a pawn to Sauron, but I don't know what any of the rest of it means. We didn't tell her anything that would actually help her destroy an army, but she knew lots of magical stories before so there's nothing we can do about those."

"And she took it willingly?" Gandalf asked in surprise. "She had never struck me as a insurgent before, but I may have been wrong. Why did none of you tell us of this particular aspect of her?" He looked accusingly to the girls who were mingled among the rest of the Fellowship for the first time. 

"She didn't do it willingly," Ruth said, not quite believing her ears that her friend had become a traitor. "She wouldn't."

"And she didn't," Janet said insistently. "She was in some sort of a trance, it wasn't like she had much of a choice." She looked back at the odd looks that she was getting and met them squarely. "You didn't see her. She moved too stiffly to be herself, like she was a robot."

"And her eyes," Louise put in. "Her eyes were just white, nothing in them at all. It was like something from an anime. No one is supposed be like that. Like all… It wasn't her, not really."

Aragorn got up and came over, putting an orb into a pocket at his side. "We were winning the battle, but it seems like without the reinforcements there's no chance that they will be able to withstand the impending siege. Liz has already been able to barricade them off and they have not been able to learn anything more yet. It seems like she takes a long time before she does anything. How can we get Radagast to make her come back here before she actually does a considerable amount of damage?"

"Gandalf?" Merry asked after a few moments of thought. "How do you take away a wizard's powers?"

"Even I know that," Leigh answered. "You just have to take away his staff. It was in the movie. At least, I think that's it, because he always used it when he needed to do something."

"Speak not of this here," Gandalf said sharply. "We do not know where the walls may have prying ears."

"Then cast a spell to make it so that they can't," Ruth suggested. She ignored Gandalf's glare which told her clearly that he could not accomplish the feat. "So, we separate him from his staff and make him call her back, or we do it, and Liz stops running amok and trying to destroy Minas Tirith. Great, so how do we do it?"

"There's eleven of us and one of him," Gimli reminded them. 

"Don't forget the three Riraams," Louise added. At the odd looks she added, "The big flying orc things."

"We still outnumber them, even with a few difficulties," Legolas said, sending a slight glance at Leigh. "If these things will stay dead then we shall be sure to overcome them. But I believed them to be more numerous than simply six. If they have more powers at their will than we know of this may require more than we suspected. Perhaps we should-"

"Aw crap, the nine are back," Ruth, Leigh and Louise said in unison. They looked to each other and realized that the rings had given them all the same message at the same time. Had this not been serious, the probably would have laughed.

"But, they're all dead," Merry protested in disbelief. "The Witch King, all of them, they're dead! They can't have just come back like that."

"There's only eight of them now," the three said. They looked accusingly to each other a moment, then decided that it wasn't worth waiting to say anything and all continued. "They're looking for another king to be their leader." They looked meaningfully at Aragorn so that he would get the message.

"When is he going to find the ring?" Janet asked Nicole. "Or is he going to find the ring at all?" she pressed when Nicole said nothing.

"She doesn't tell the future any longer," Gimli put in for her. "No matter how much we have tried to get her to. It might have been nice to have a couple warnings."

"Nicole, this is really important," Pippin said, eyes wide, following the advice he had gotten so long ago about breaking bad news to the girls and trying to look as cute as possible, no matter how humiliating it seemed. "Can't you try?"

Merry stepped by his friend to try and help as well. "And you have never been wrong before. You warned us about the attack at the river and saved us, remember?" Inwardly, he wondered why he was resorting to this when they had to try and get the ring from Liz. 

Janet could see that Nicole was about to give in, and would with just one more little push. "Do you really want to see Aragorn become a Ringwraith? The _head_ Nazgul who is going to be the ones leading the attacks against us? You know that we won't be able to fight back if that happens."

Nicole bowed her head and let out a sigh of defeat. Janet and Pippin exchanged a high five behind their backs and waited a few moments before Nicole spoke. "You're going to find it in between two and six minutes from now. It will be in plain sight to you, on a rock, but we won't be able to see it or help you."

Aragorn looked at the display, surprise flitting across his otherwise calm face like a butterfly across a field. He nodded his understanding and worried slightly over the fact that he may fall to darkness. "How shall we-" 

"While I'm at this," Nicole interrupted, pointing at Gimli, "your plan has the best probability of working. And all three Riraams are currently looking for them." She gestured to Pippin, Louise and Janet. "They won't interfere until we're done. Frodo and Sam, though, I can't really say."

"Sam's being watched by the bird back there," Louise offered. "So, what's this big plan that's supposed to work?"

Gimli still seemed a little surprised that his plan had been chosen before he had fully though of it. Going from what he already knew and slowly mounting on it as he went along, he explained his plan in as much detail as he could. As it drew to a close there were a number of nodding heads agreeing with it and thinking of how to put it into action as soon as possible.

"Are you sure you can handle this?" Merry asked Leigh. "If you feel that you cannot then you can always stay here and wait for us to return."

Leigh nodded that she would be able to handle it, as her task was not a particularly hard one. "We'll need rope. It's not going to be easy to get down there without it."

They quickly got organized and split up, starting right away and not wasting anymore time on anything trivial. As Aragorn walked down to the corridor, he felt the slightest chill from a light wind. He turned to look for the source and saw only empty uneven wall space. Something there was calling to him, offering him much that he desired. He looked more carefully and on a rock in one of the crevasses was a simple ring.


	23. Strange Occurances

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Okay, I know I said it would be a while, but I wrote this on a sick day. Enjoy! And the next one will definitely take me a while, sorry. One question, though for all of you. This is your chance to help out in the story. Here's the question: Yes or no?

There was an outcry from a troop of orcs and the sound of many feet going to join them. The first phase of the plan was already in affects Pippin, Louise and Janet drew the orcs guarding the tower away from their master's chambers where they would be needed momentarily. His voice carried throughout the tower, encouraging them on the chase. Pippin and Janet were on foot, running through and appearing at regular intervals to draw the crowd on. Louise was above on the great bird, who had not been watching Sam when they returned, and watched their backs until it was time for them to switch.

They waited until they heard the door to Radagast's study open, where he was still looking through his notes for some unknown document. There was a large outcry of rage, but not enough to draw any more than a slight pause in the sound of the mass of receding footsteps.

Legolas let down the silvery elven rope and one by one they climbed down, listening to the sounds anxiously in the next room. Nicole's voice sounded constantly, warning Gandalf, Aragorn and Gimli of impending strikes and only a few of them ever landed. The tension among them built as they slowly made their way nearly blindly through the room where their companions once told stories to keep their heads. The torches by the door were out and they ad to go by the dim and flickering light shining beneath the door.

Crowded around the door, they waited anxiously and listened to what turned out to basically be commentary from Nicole, supplemented by Legolas. They heard about each blow from Nicole, heard it land a moment later, and then Legolas tried to tell them what their own people were doing in retaliation. All the while, they waited for the signal for their entrance.

Finally they heard Nicole cry, "NOW!" and came rushing in. Radagast hit the wall next to them a moment later and the hand holding the staff went temporarily limp. Merry jumped at the opportunity and tried to pry the staff from his hand, though this only seemed to serve in angering the wizard. He soon found himself caught up in a large whirlwind that seemed to move under the will of it's master. 

Ruth saw her own opportunity here. "Leigh," she said very softly to the girl standing a little behind her, though still to her side. "You get the staff. I'll distract him. And look, he's got his own water source right over there." She indicated a small water pump that looked vaguely reminiscent of a faucet with a few drops of water dripping into a small bowl already filled with it.

Ruth looked deep into the miniature tornado and pried the powers of the wind from Radagast and to herself. Slowly, and without involving much more turning on Merry's part, she set him back down on the ground and he stumbled dizzily towards the far wall and to those who had come through the main door. She then set the tornado against him, letting it pick him up, spin him, then set him back down once more until he could barely stand. Gandalf was helping her as well, she could sense. Otherwise it would have surely gotten far out of her control at these speeds by now.

Leigh formed a length of rope made of pure water and let It slowly snake it's way through the air towards the edge of the whirlwind. As the intensity lessened and Radagast lowered closer to the ground, Leigh made the water rope strike. Like a whip, it hit the wizard's wrist hard and gripped the staff, pulling it sharply away from him and into her possession. 

The whirlwind started up again with the ferocity of a twister and Legolas took three shots into it. A moment later, as it died down to a dust devil, Radagast was pinned helplessly to a map of Middle-Earth spread across the wall. Arrows were held out and pointed directly at him. He, however, seemed slightly amused at his predicament and looked as though he were waiting for this.

"So eager you seem to want to end my reign which has yet to begin," he said, a slight laugh in his voice. "I shall have a far more just empire than the visions of Sauron or Morgoth. Not even you, Aragorn son of Arathorn, can hope to match my glorious visions for the future. I had wanted to do this sooner, but I suppose the destruction of Minas Tirith and the beginnings of my conquest can wait a moment." 

There were masked looks of triumph shot amongst them. This was going exactly as they had intended, and even Gandalf's prediction of his reaction seemed almost as though it had been one of Nicole's predictions. They waited a few moments, none of them letting their guard down, and began to wonder what was to come next.

Liz appeared a moment later in the very center of the room, floating above all of their heads. She did not so much as quaver under the surprised looks of her comrades over seeing her again for the first time in months, continuing to stare blankly at absolutely nothing and remain unresponsive to everything around her.

"Destroy them," Radagast ordered coldly. Liz still did not move, much to the perplexity of the wizard. He began to grow frustrated and panic began to show on his face. "Attack and destroy them!" When no response came, his face tightened in anger at his failure. "Get me back my staff, immediately!"

Below the Fellowship wondered what could possibly have happened. They had expected for her to either snap out of her trance immediately upon seeing them or attack them at Radagast's first word. The fact that she did neither left them slightly unnerved, but none of them really wanted to call up to her and draw attention to themselves. Only two did not looked surprised at this; Nicole and Gandalf.

"Three, two, one," Nicole said in an almost inaudible voice. At the last number, Liz dove at Leigh. Surprised and slightly fearful of what her friend might do, she held the staff out and tried to strike her with it. Liz managed to dodge and remove the staff from Leigh's possession. From there, she floated back into the center of the room with the staff in hand, waiting.

There was a slight trickle of dust that poured from above Radagast and onto his head. He looked up, only to get a bit of it into his eye, forcing him to look away. A small figure burst through the wall near the ceiling, startling everyone in the room except for the immovable Liz. It landed squarely in her back and she did not even flinch under the weight.

"Sam!" Merry cried, recognizing him from below. "Come out of it! We don't need this right now!" He turned to Gandalf pleadingly, asking for some sort of explanation as to what was happening, and if he could do anything about it. When all he got was a simple shake of his head, he returned his gaze to Sam in hopes of seeing some sort of change.

Sam slowly climbed down her arm and retrieved the ring from her finger, which caused confusion amongst most of them as they believed that when the ring rested on the bearer's finger, the bearer became invisible. He then leapt down, landing on all fours and straightened up, leaving the ring on the ground.

"Take it quick and hide it," he said, getting control of his nerves. "I won't hold out for much longer and Mister Frodo is on his way. What happened to her?"

Merry stepped forward and took the ring, a thing so simple, and hid it from sight, easily resisting the urge to put it on himself. He moved to help his friend, but was waved off and stepped back a bit instead. 

"She is under my control now," Radagast said, answering Sam's question in a boastful matter. "A few unanticipated problems, true, but still completely at my control." He continued on about how he had managed to take control of her mind so easily from so far away, not paying much attention to what was happening elsewhere in the room.

Nicole whispered to Aragorn and Merry to come closer. "Both of you give me the rings," she demanded hurriedly, trying to make it look inconspicuous. Aragorn gave her a look of innocent and she returned it with an all knowing one. "I know you took it, now both of you give them to me. I have an idea that might work."

The rings exchanged hands, Aragorn thankfully not having put his on. Had that been the case, he would never have been able to remove it and would have slowly begun to fall into the dark. Nicole pocketed both in different places and began to count things out on her fingers. 

The rest of the girls, Legolas and Gimli were pretending to pay close attention and grow angry at Radagast's words, they were speaking back and forth to each other and plotting how to get the staff from Liz's hands. Radagast could ask for it back at any moment and then they may not be able to take it from him again.

Liz herself moved slightly, sinking lower and lower to the ground and into the better light. She gripped the staff lightly in both hands lightly, then let it fall into one, pointing it downwards at the ground. Flickers of color passed across her eyes as Radagast's attention wavered.

"Look, she's lower now," Gimli pointed out to the rest. "Legolas is tallest, you go pull it from her grip and we will have it with no hassle. He's too busy telling us how brilliant he is to even remember that he is currently pinned to the wall on a cork map of the lands."

Legolas agreed with protests that this would not work and went softly to where Liz floated. Reaching up, he grabbed hold of the staff and slipped it out of her hand quickly before returning to the rest. Radagast had not noticed, still talking to no one at all of his brilliance.

The door slammed open just as Legolas handed the staff over to Leigh once more, a creature that was once, and still seemed reminiscent of, a hobbit standing in the doorway, drawing the attention of all, including Radagast. Hunched over and with the look of a wild animal on the hunt for blood in his eye, he seemed nothing like the gentle soul they had once known. "Ring, preciousss, where?!" Frodo, or what was once him, hissed. 

"Frodo," Nicole said to draw his attention. A golden ring was flashing in her hand as she waved it tauntingly back and forth, allowing it to catch the firelight. Sam fell once more into the ring fever and looked hungrily at it, ready to pounce at it at any moment. Nicole smiled mischievously and hid the ring in her had. "Catch!" she said, throwing it so that it landed directly on Radagast's head.

Both hobbits rushed to it, climbing up on chairs and tables until they could reach him. Radagast tried to kick the two away, but managed only to aggravate them. They began clawing up and trying to reach the small trinket by any means. He tried to shake the thing off of his head, but he found that it held fast, not willing to give an inch.

"Can you get that, Gandalf?" Nicole asked, feeling along the wall until she found a loose rock. The wizard, though not seeming very happy about it, obliged and removed it from the wall. Nicole slipped another ring deep into the hole in the wall and Gandalf replaced the large stone he removed, nearly a foot thick. 

The effect this took was a very strange one. Frodo and Sam dropped from Radagast, landing on the ground with dazed looks spread across their now completely normal faces. Radagast continued to flail helplessly despite it, looking quite the fool for doing so. Liz's feet touched the floor and were planted there. Ruth sent a wind through the room and took the ring from Radagast's head, allowing it to come directly to her hand.

Through the back door, Pippin, Louise and Janet came through curiously, looking around in wonder of what had happened. Mostly in wonder at the fact that Liz was just standing in the center of the room completely unresponsive to everything around her. "What did we miss?" 


	24. Fall of a Wizard

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it. Portkey is from Harry Potter and belongs to JK Rowling, by the way.

A/N: The polls are closed! I asked a total of 73 people and said, "Pick: yes or no," and got answers from them without telling them precisely what they were answering to. I feel slightly evil ^_^ though my sidekick thinks I've lost my mind. The voices know better, though. 

"Aren't you supposed to be making sure we don't have an army bursting through those doors and coming at our throats?" Ruth asked in disbelief at their appearance. 

"They fell off of a cliff," Louise said with a smile and a slight shrug. She looked around the room, trying to take it all in and did a double take to see Radagast pinned to the wall as though this were a cartoon where it might have been possible. She managed to contain her laughter at the sight, though a smile would not avert at the sheer ridiculousness of it.

Merry and Pippin rushed forward to help Frodo and Sam to their feet and to see if they were back to the normal hobbits they once knew. Besides being quite shaky and having a very vague memory of what had just happened, they were all right. The four of them turned to study Liz, the human statue in the center of the room.

"After all these troubles and strife with the first quest for the ring and now the second, you stop the effects of the horrid thing by simply putting it in a wall?" Gimli asked, looking to Nicole in astonishment. "We nearly kill ourselves to destroy it the first time, being pursued by that creature through it all that is trying to get his own hands on it, and the Nazgul as well, and you just- put it in a wall?!"

Nicole blinked and stepped back, startled at the dwarf's outburst and the fact that Aragorn and Legolas were looking at her in the same accusing way. "I don't think I can explain it to you unless I missed the section where you were all familiar with radiation and radioactive materials. And radio waves. And the effects of drug addiction. And Superman."

The three of them looked to each other in confusion, not understanding any of the things mentioned. None wanted to press the matter any further and bring up that they did not know of it, so they allowed their attention to wander back to Radagast and the problem of what to do with him now.

"Mister Strider?" Sam said warily as Liz rose from her place on the ground and flew to Radagast, removing the arrows manually and letting him down from his imprisonment before they could do much to stop her. 

"Break the staff!" Gandalf commanded, setting the task to Leigh who now held it. Leigh took it up and tried to break it, but found the wood of it to bee too much for her own strength alone. She looked up to find Radagast advancing over her and a firewall appearing to cut off his passage.

"Hurry," Louise urged, keeping the fire under perfect control as it encircled the wizard but having a problem maintaining the high intensity. Ruth let a wind come and keep the rest of them from feeling the heat of the flames and silently urged her to finish her work quickly.

Leigh, not able to think of much else to do, ran over to the small basin of water and the faucet that was slowly filling it. She deposited the staff in there and created a whirlpool equal to that of Nenya from so long ago, though more concentrated and intense. The staff was quickly returned to little more than a pile of splinters by the time Louise's concentration gave out and the firewall dropped. 

"Radagast, your staff is broken," Gandalf said harshly. "You are surrounded by those who are not your allies and are defenseless. Is there any reason why we should show you mercy for attempting to bring the one ring back?"

Radagast developed an almost insane look in his eyes. "My staff is gone, but I am most certainly not yet powerless as Saruman was when you brought him to his knees. You have forgotten my ultimate weapon."

"I most certainly have not," Gandalf informed him simply. "You do not seem to realize that she knows too many spells to do any one thing until she goes through all of them mentally and decides upon them. You have grown foolish in your years. Find Saruman and together you may wander and reminisce over your failings. GO!"

Radagast had been retreating into himself at the onslaught of words, growing smaller against Gandalf. At the last word, such force put into it, everyone jumped, but Radagast ran from the room. The screech of a bird was heard soon after and none ever saw Radagast the Brown again.

"Quickly," Gandalf urged. "Is there a spell from one of the stories in your world that will take a large number of people over long distances?"

The girls looked to each other in thought a moment. Then Nicole, Leigh and Janet thought of something. "Portkey!" they exclaimed in unison. "But we'll need something to be the actual thing to transport us all," Janet continued. "We all have to be touching it."

"Will any harm come to it?" Gandalf asked. When he got the answer 'no', he went over by Liz and urged them all to follow. "Put a hand on my staff," he said, holding it out so all of them could put a hand on it.

"That could have sounded really wrong," Louise said casually as she obeyed and waited for something to happen.

Gandalf took Liz's limp wrist and placed her hand on the staff as well. "Make this a portkey to the fortress of Minas Tirith," he said to her. Within a few seconds, they all felt as though a hook had grabbed them from behind the navel and pulled on them really hard.

Landing hard on a cold stone floor, most of them rushed to their feet in case they had found themselves in the middle of a battle, only to find that they had landed in the doorway of the meeting room of Minas Tirith where Elrond, Faramir, Arwen and the others he entrusted to the kingdom's safety were in meeting with the leaders of the reinforcements. 

"What trickery of fate has brought you all back so soon?" Elrond asked curiously and with a look on his face that told them plainly that he was as of yet unsure of whether or not they were who they seemed. "And to so suddenly appear from thin air before us in our time of need and triumph."

"I understood none of that," Ruth said plainly, bringing herself to a sitting position. She looked to everyone else, either sitting or on their feet except for Liz, who now lay very still with eyes opened, showing the pure white where pupils and irises should be.

"Me neither," Louise agreed, looking to Elrond for a more simple explanation and expecting one of the Fellowship to answer him. That, or explain what he had just very poetically said.

"Consider it a twist of fate that we come now before you in such an odd way," Legolas offered. "The effects of the ring have been subdued for now, but, as we have readily found out through this experience, the ring must be destroyed by a different means than that we tried before, else it will come back anew to plague us."

"Do you have a proposition for an alternative currently?" a tall elf with silvery hair asked regally, seeming to be as very much in control of the situation as Elrond was. "We are being attacked by natures of orcs that are not natural and by the Nazgul which we believed to be gone with the first destruction of the ring."

"King Thranduil of Mirkwood," Gandalf said, not seeming to even notice the title included in his address, "would you prefer to have this occur a third time or have it finished at this battle? We shall present to you what will happen once we know. For now, the effect of the ring is subdued. We also have the ring of the Witch King, which means that they are without leader entirely."

"Speaking of which, can someone get the east wall guard down to the south gate?" Nicole interrupted with a calm urgency. "A Nazgul will be attacking there in about five minutes and they're the closest armed people to it."

Aragorn looked about the room to the disbelieving and scoffing faces evenly, waiting for one of them to either follow the order or to dare question it. When neither happened, he went out to the hall and grabbed the arm of one of the many people running amok about the castle to find that it was one that he knew. 

"Celebwen, alert the east wall troops to go to the south gate," he told her. As she rushed off, more level headed than the rest that were worrying about finding supplies and bandages, he returned to the room with a cool look on his face. "When someone returns with word of the Nazgul attack, you will take Nicole under your custody and accept fully her advice," he ordered of the rest of them, his voice so stern that none wanted to dispute him.

"How would she know about such occurrences before they happen?" a dwarf in full battle armor and a large battle axe strapped across his back asked with an unbelieving tone. "There is no way without the rings to tell."

"Actually, I learned from this paper I read that went off on a tangent of astrophysics and went more into the probabilities of fates and how to discern what will happen when certain given factors come together. The guy came up with about twelve fate equations that, when put together, can tell what will happen within as much as a year from the present, though the farther into the future, the lower the accuracy rate it is."

There was a general confused reaction from everyone listening. Most were stunned at the explanation because it felt like an appropriate reaction, while others were trying to puzzle out what she had just revealed. "I used the fate equations I found, okay?" she said to the group in hopes to alleviate what she had caused.

"Are we going to just leave Liz on the ground like that?" Sam asked, growing edgy about the sightless eyes staring blankly up through the ceiling. She might have even been dead for all he knew at the moment, the rise and fall of her chest to signify breathing very minor. 

"If you are certain that she will not come back to once more wreak havoc on us all," Faramir said. "I have seen what damage she can do, we all have. None of us want that to happen anew."

"Rest assured, she will not strike again so long as Radagast is without a staff, which is not for all eternity," Gandalf reassured him. "Now, I believe we should transport this meeting to the houses of healing where we can tend to our sores and tell you of our separate tales of what has brought us here."

They quickly moved their session over to the houses, leaving Liz to rest in a bed where she could be treated, though none wanted to treat the one with the eerily white eyes and who had brought worry to the outcome of the battle. The girls separated from the group, dumping off the orcish garb they wore over top of their clothes and leaving them to explain the tale for themselves and not finding any real place in the session.

"You guys are back!" they heard a familiar voice call to them. They looked around and saw the familiar face of Kathy, dressed in breeches and a work shirt, both looking as though they were made for royalty. A sword was at her side, well made judging from the handle. "And you're all still alive! I was beginning to worry."

"Ack! You're talking Middle-Earth-ish!" Leigh cried, covering her ears to block out the sound. They had dubbed the rich English language normally spoken here unless the fanfic author became lazy and changed it around 'Middle-Earth-ish' for lack of a better name.

"She is not," Louise corrected her. "She's just starting to." She turned back to Kathy with a warm smile. "Hi! Long time no see. What have you been up to besides somehow escaping having to wear dresses?

"Not much," Kathy said casually. "Just wondering where all of my friends went, what the hell happened to Liz and learning to fight if it comes to that. Oh, and I met this _really_ hot elf."

"You're going to have to be a little more specific than that," Ruth informed her bluntly. "They're all incredibly hot. Hey, you know what we haven't done for a while? Sparring."

There were nods of consent and hints of laughter among them as Kathy showed them to the field set aside for training. It was basically a dusty courtyard with blocks of wood put up so that people could safely stand behind or on them to watch. "How sad is it when we actually want to go and spar?" Nicole asked no one in particular.

"I can help, I've been getting training and I'm pretty good at it so far," Kathy said confidently. The rest looked at her skeptically, wondering if they realized that they had just spent probably a month in Mordor and had been learning to fight since they had left Rivendell. 


	25. Nazgul Summons

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: I'm on a writing streak today, so yeah. Done my homework and now I can write for the rest of the weekend!! YAY!!! And now I go and get more sugar…

They got onto the field and paired off, Leigh sitting the first round out with Ruth. Neither felt much like it at the moment and felt more like being a spectator. They laughed slightly at the match between Nicole and Kathy, and at seeing how badly Kathy was outmatched. She submitted sheepishly after only a couple blows, not yet able to adjust to Nicole's technique.

By the time Nicole had found it necessary to disarm Kathy, finding her finally adjusting and adapting her technique to match her own, there was a crowd gathering about them from the others training about the courtyard. They all seemed to be routing Nicole on, considering her the underdog in the match and not realizing the trap that she had lured her friend into.

With a quick blow to a spot near the base of the blade, Kathy dropped her sword and looked at her for a stunned moment before clutching her sore wrist. Cheers went up from the crowd and they both realized that they were being watched. Sheepishly, they both took a bow and went over to the rest of their friends, all sitting on top of the boxes as spectators. 

"Why didn't you-" Nicole began, but a sudden worried expression came across her face. "Oh crap, we're getting a Nazgul here in a minute. Don't bother trying to get out of here, Ruth, it's become a set fate. No matter what we do now, they're going to be come after us so just pick up a sword and be prepared."

A few of their onlookers glanced back at the mention of the Nazgul and tightened their grip on their own weapons a little defensively with a look that said that they did not believe her. A few looked like they might tell her not to joke about such things, but decided against doing anything but returning to practice or retiring to their own rooms for the day.

Each of the girls picked up a sword, even Leigh, and waited anxiously. Ruth and Leigh warmed up by sparring and Ruth made it her job to make sure that Leigh would strike in this fight. Leigh, however, was not convinced, still timid with her sword until greatly provoked.

"Weren't they killed with fire in the movie?" Leigh asked hopefully. "Then Louise can just poof and get rid of it." She looked hopeful as she blocked and countered, though Ruth looked doubtful. Louise, however, seemed ready to try it since it was what happened in the movie. It could be another on of the parallels with this author.

The minute wore on in tension despite the relaxed façade they put on, the silence among them broken only by the clanging metal of Ruth and Leigh's swords and Leigh's alternatives. Kathy was the only one unworried as there were so many people around that could come to their aid and she had seen that in the movie that Aragorn had taken on about seven of them on his own. 

There was a screech that hurt their ears worse than fingernails scratching on a chalkboard. Those soldiers in the courtyard came to attention at once, ready for battle, while those inexperienced fled to safety. The six of them strode forward and joined what had become a front, gathering a few odd looks from the men.

The Nazgul burst into view with a bloodied sword held high in battle challenge. A few went forward in acceptance, going for the horse rather than the beast on top of it, and only a third of them did not fall never to rise again. They succeeded in laming the horse, causing the Nazgul to come at them on foot. 

Most of the men had fled to alert someone who might be able to better deal with these creatures, like the King or Mithrandir. The girls were all that were left and it came right at them as they flew to the sides and out of the way to his sword. They all tried to get a shot in, but amazingly only Leigh's landed.

She, like the rest of them, had simply tried to jab at it from what she thought was a safe distance, and had clipped his arm sword arm, cutting through until the bone. Her arm went numb almost instantly and she cried out as her sword dropped to the ground, beginning to smolder instantly.

Kathy immediately went to her side, trying to figure out what had happened, a sure sign that she had not been tested in battle yet. The Nazgul gave out a great cry and threw his sword down as his arm was not able to hold a thing so large, right through Kathy's leg as though it gave as little resistance as water. He then took up a knife and went after the one who had managed to strike him.

Louise brought a small inferno forth, sending it from two outstretched palms directly at the Nazgul and engulfing it in flames. By the time it subsided, there was nothing left of the black menace that once stood there. She closed her hands with a deep breath of exertion and went to join the rest at the side of their fallen.

The sword was gingerly removed from Kathy's leg and bandaging the wound so as to cease the blood flow. Kathy was the worst off, having fallen into shadows for the time. Both now lay unconscious and were deemed not in such a state that they could not be moved to the Houses of Healing. Quickly, Ruth brought up a small wind to help lift them and carry them.

Their arrival was met with surprise and questions, though they made it very clear that they would wait until their friends were tended to. A few gasps of 'Elbereth' went out at the sight of the cases, bringing back memories from the last war of the ring. Others who had not borne witness to the victims of before wondered whether the shadows were worse than the girl with the white eyes that might be dead.

Eowyn was there, looking at the two sternly, not letting any emotion show on her face as the memory of herself in that position came back to her. She sent a runner to find Aragorn and led the girls out and to a place where they could change out of their dirty clothes and get something to eat. 

It would have been a simple task, Eowyn aware that they were once ladies in waiting to the queen, had she any idea of their reservations to wearing the dresses. After a long debate, Eowyn gave in and took them to her own tailor who had spare long tunics and breeches for the girls.

"All of you must be incredibly difficult," she commented as a satisfied smile came across all of their faces. "I do hope that, should I ever have a daughter, she would not be nearly as much so. But enough of that, let us discuss what happened over a meal."

"Anything but fish," Ruth agreed, sick of that being their only meal every day for however long they had been gone. 

With the memory of their friends hanging over them, they ate and retold the tale of the fight against the Nazgul. They asked if she knew quite how long Kathy had been learning and who taught her and forgot to mention the first rule of combat: never help a fallen ally until the enemy is gone. She informed them that she was being trained with one of the newer officers with the other ladies in waiting. Apparently, he cared more for courting the ladies than teaching them to fight.

"How's Eldarion?" Ruth asked suddenly. Both she and Leigh had signed up as babysitters for the young prince and she had begun to wonder how the seven year old was doing through all of this. 

"Still causing mischief," Eowyn replied, "though he misses his favorite babysitters. Kathy seems to only know what she's doing with larger groups of kids and wasn't quite as good. However, there has been a considerable decrease in the amount of sweets that have gone missing in that time." She looked slightly accusingly at Ruth.

"Sorry," Janet apologized. "That would be me and Liz and Louise. Hey, do you have any of those now?" They all laughed at this, all seriousness having left them for the moment and their other troubles.

"I hate to say this, but there's another Nazgul coming this way," Nicole informed them sadly. "North gate this time. Eowyn, can you take Louise there? She can probably get rid of it before it hurts anyone." Louise got up and dragged Eowyn off before she had a chance to object or question as Nicole's brow furrowed in thought. "Why are they all coming here?"

"All?" Janet asked, slightly worriedly. "It's just two so far."

"So far, but the rest will be coming. Now, what is bringing all of them here? Wait, Ruth? Do you still have the Witch King's ring from Barad-Dur?"

"Yeah," she admitted. At the looks she was given, she retorted, "It's not like we could have just let Aragorn keep it. He would have put it on eventually, then we'd be really screwed."

"Aragorn was offered the ring of the Witch King?" a curious voice asked from the doorway. Arwen regarded them in curiosity with a child at her side that looked similar to her. "He would not have fallen into the lure of that ring, not after resisting the will of the one."

"He picked it up, didn't he?" Nicole pointed out, taking the ring that Ruth had fished out of her pocket. This thing isn't safe in the castle, but I think it can be neutralized when it's melted. Maybe Louise-"

"Ruth!" Eldarion cried, breaking free of his mother's grip to wrap himself around the girl's waist. "Where did you go? Why are all of you talking about Father? Is he all right? Is there-"

"Don't worry about any of us," Ruth responded, smiling down at the young prince. "We're all fine and well. How have you been? Have many adventures without us or any visits from the you know what?"

Eldarion launched into long stories about make believe adventures he had while they were gone and creatures he had defeated. Meanwhile, Arwen sat down with them to listen at his son's imagination as it flourished to it's maximum and Nicole quietly slipped out with the ring.

Going along corridors and making her way purposefully across the walls, she found Louise, exhausted to the point where Eowyn was helping her walk. Slightly disappointed, she did not show it and went to help her and ask what had happened.

"It kept _moving_," Louise said insistently. "I couldn't hit it with enough fire all at once. I just need a little rest and I'll be fine."

"I have never seen anyone, not even Mithrandir, wield the fire as such," Eowyn said in awe. "I do believe that there is far more to you girls than I had thought. Perhaps I would prefer my children to be more like you than I thought." She smiled kindly and Nicole departed from the two of them, seeking out Gandalf in hopes that he could find a pyre hot enough.

She found him eventually speaking with Aragorn in the garden area of the Houses of Healing. They both seemed remarkably tired and in need of a good rest, though their speech led some to believe otherwise. They talked of the near future and how the Houses would be falling back into disuse and probably would grow over within ten years.

"Ah, Nicole," Gandalf said, seeing her enter into the gardens. "What has brought you back here aside from seeing if your friends are well once more?"

"You know what?" she asked in a very serious tone. She pointed an accusing finger at them both. "You both have far too many names. It's really hard to figure out where both of you are when everyone's talking about Mithrandir and Elessar and you're looking for Gandalf and Aragorn." She let out a sigh and smiled a bit to show that her frustrations were not true. "Do either of you know where I can find a pyre equal to Denethor's? We need to destroy the Witch King's ring or else the Nazgul are going to keep flocking here."

"Perhaps I could just learn to master the ring as I did the palantir," Aragorn suggested. "If I could resist the will of the ring, then surely I can overcome the ring itself."

"You are succumbing to the will of the ring as we speak," Gandalf told him bluntly. "The rings are not a thing to trifle with and can_not_ be overcome except with the One. Once the one is destroyed, the ring of the Witch King will leave this world again, as well as it's keeper."

"Oh, and Eldarion was asking how you were," Nicole informed him. "I think he missed you. How's everyone else? Any change?"

"Leigh and Kathy will be fine in time," Aragorn replied, "but Kathy's leg will never again be what it once was. There is a small bit of the metal of the Nazgul blade that broke off while you were removing it and we are unable to remove it. Her bone was also partially shattered and may not heal properly. Now, I think it time I see my son again." He retreated back to the castle with a wave.

"Liz is doing… better," Gandalf answered finally. "She has no master and is still unresponsive to most anything. Most distressing, none of the healers in that house will go near her because they still believe her to be one of the enemy, or cursed. She has a serious wound to the hip and is missing a part of the bone. She needs to be treated for it. Do those fate equations tell you anything that might remedy this?" His tone was almost taunting and he seemed bitter about something, but she could not tell what.

"Can that girl Louise not melt the ring herself? Her control over fire is remarkable and this would surely not be too difficult a task for her."

"She's still tired from getting rid of Nazgul number six," Nicole replied, falling into another fanfiction author trap, one where the Nazgul and other nameless foes were numbered off to keep track of them. How she was able to figure out the exact number, though, escaped all understanding, hers included.

"But only two have attacked thus far," Gandalf pointed out. "How can it have been six?"

"The number- oh never mind," Nicole said, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get any farther than trying to explain that this wasn't the original Middle-Earth. A thought occurred to her suddenly and her hand went to the vial that Galadriel had given her and the chain she had wrapped around it so that she wouldn't lose it. "I think I know how to bring back Liz."


	26. Trance Lifted

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: This is taking longer to finish than I thought it would. *shrug* I'll get over it. And for reference to those who wish to know, Good Magician Humphery is from the Xanth series by Peirs Antony. Told you I'd get another chap up before Monday.

"O Elbereth, I have chills run up and down my spine every time I look at that girl," an attendant said when Nicole and Gandalf came in and inquired about how she was doing. "Are you certain that she is alive at all? She has not stirred since she came and I am unsure if she breathes still."

"Then perhaps you should go over and check once in a while," Gandalf suggested. "Ah, Gimli and Legolas, what has brought you both here?"

"As much as we adore our families," Legolas said, "we can only take their questions for so long. Sometimes I begin to wonder how so many arguments can occur over so little a thing."

"He told his father he had fallen in love with Janet," Gimli supplemented. "Apparently he does not like her because she is too, what was it, wild? It was as though he actually paid mind to who his son had interests in."

Legolas shot a cold look at his friend, silently telling him to shut his mouth and never to open it again. "What has brought the both of you here? You said yourself, Gandalf, that there was little that we could do for her."

"But I thought of something that might work," Nicole informed them. "You guys didn't have this to try." She drew out the chain with a single jewel resting on it's length she had wrapped around the neck of Galadriel's vial, he one that formerly kept Liz safe from Radagast's doings before.

They moved over to Liz's bedside and saw the shadows pass in and out of her clear white eyes that seemed to almost be looking through the ceiling above her. Her hand was cold when Nicole touched it and she was indeed barely breathing. The expression on her face was blank and vacant of any feeling or emotion.

"What are you doing?" Pippin asked, peering over the edge of the bed and barely able to see what was happening. "Did you think of something to bring Liz back?" Growing frustrated, he stood on a chair at her bedside to get a clear look at what was happening.

"We'll see," Nicole said, putting the item around her head until it was securely on. A few seconds past in tension, everyone waiting on baited breath to see if it worked and did not lose hope as they slowly ticked by. 

Liz's eyes closed and they almost let out a triumphant cry, except for that there were many sleepers about them. She squeezed her eyes tightly before opening them again to the light, looking up at the people standing over her in confusion, revealing the brown eyes that she was born with. "Vendui," she greeted before noticing an immense pain at her hip and let out a cry of pain.

"She's back!" Nicole said in quiet triumph to the rest. "But she's still speaking in Elvish."

"It is odd," Legolas stated quizzically. "Before she spoke solely in Sindarian, and now she greets us in Quenya. Perhaps something has happened."

"Amin sorry, nan who are llie?" she asked curiously, wondering if they were here to help her or just to visit what she figured might be the Hospital Wing of a school or castle. Feeling the spot where it hurt immensely once but was now just a sharp pain every once in a while due to the numbness, she found that she had no bone there. She looked around the room and found a small bottle in arms reach. "A, Skelegrow," she said, happily taking the bottle and drinking it down. She made a sour face as she put the bottle back down on the table, not particularly happy with the taste of the medicine or the fact that it was taking effect almost immediately. 

Gandalf took the bottle and let a drop of the liquid fall onto his finger, finding it a thick white and pasty substance where before there was water. He looked to the others gathered there very seriously. Nicole seemed in a minor state of shock, but did her best to surpress it. "I believe there have been complications," he stated plainly. "But we should discuss them elsewhere."

"Liz, we're going to go now, all right?" Nicole told her. "Just call for someone and tell them to ask for us, all right?" 

Liz nodded her understanding and smiled. "It was nice elea lle au. Maybe lle can visit after amin alae back nnaramin." She then rolled over and began to try to sleep through the pain of the medicine on top of the pain of the wound.

"What did she say?" Nicole asked once they were out of earshot. 

"First, she asked who we were," Legolas said. "The next one was a mention of something called 'Skelegrow' and the last said that maybe you could visit again after she grew back her bone. Again, she spoke all Elvish in Quenya. I am beginning to wonder what has happened."

"Maybe that isn't what we should be worried about," Nicole suggested. "Why was she still speaking in Elvish at all? Isn't she supposed to be completely fixed now?"

"Isn't who supposed to be fixed now?" Frodo asked, Merry and Sam at his side. All of them had changed back into regular clothing from their orcish ones and no longer had the marks of Mordor dirt smeared on them visible.

"Liz is awake," Gimli replied. "She is, however, still speaking partially in Elvish and it seems that was not supposed to happen. She can learn to tell the difference between the two in time, so I see no problem. What has brought you all here?"

"Visiting with those wounded by the Nazgul," Merry replied. "Moral support from us who have had to suffer through it before. So Liz is back and partially 'fixed'. Where ever did you think of such a term? Oddly, I do not see everyone present, though we know that Kathy and Louise are in no shape yet to go for a visit. Were there any other complications?"

A wary look passed between Legolas, Gimli, Pippin and Gandalf as though they were trying to discern whether or not to voice it, but it was Nicole who spoke. "She doesn't recognize us, and I don't think she remembers anything." She let out a deep sigh. "And there's going to be a Nazgul attack at the East wall in about ten minutes. I'm going to find Louise and see if she can melt this ring so we can deal with that problem, unless you have a solution, Gandalf."

"My Father will be looking for you as well," Legolas warned. "He has heard of your successful predictions and is determined to use them to his best advantages in the upcoming battle."

"That's not all he'll be asking about," Nicole assured him with an innocent smile. "He'll also be asking about other things, like Janet. Who knows what could happen. Can someone well known around here come with me? I don't think Louise is well enough yet and they won't exactly let _me_ try to melt the ring in a smith shop. They don't seem to let girls do anything around here."

Merry went to her side and accompanied her our of the gardens. "Don't bother telling the others she doesn't remember," Nicole said as she left. "It's better if they figure it out on their own!" As the waving hand passed out of sight, conversation resumed amongst the remainder of the group.

"If she cannot remember, then is it really wise to send her back?" Frodo asked. "Especially if she is a wizard. She said herself many times that there is no magic in her own world."

"She survived long enough without it," Gimli pointed out. 

"Didn't Nicole say that one of them Black riders was coming at us from the East?" Sam asked, cutting in worriedly. 

"I shall go and dispose of it before it causes us any difficulty," Gandalf said. "And do not worry of the fate of others much longer. When the time comes and they cannot decide themselves, then it will be chosen for them by one who knows what is best." With that, he departed. Slowly after that, they each separated off on their own ventures about Minas Tirith, learning what they could of what had been happening and what would soon occur with the last of the orcs of Mordor marching at them without a leader.

The next day they all went to visit with their wounded friends after a long rest and bath. Leigh and Kathy were awake, chattering amongst each other when they arrived. It seemed that there was a new arrival with a thick veil of rumors about them had been moved there next to them this morning and no one had seen them at all. Kathy and Leigh were creating theories on them.

"It's a countess turned assassin after she murdered her husband who was conspiring with Radagast," Kathy told them. "We figure that she's half something to be able to have the knowledge to actually kill someone in a position of authority, because it's almost impossible to find a properly trained girl who isn't at least half something else. We can't tell what yet, though, because those curtains they keep up around her don't exactly make for the best window."

"These two would have been helpful as fellow prisoners," Pippin said lightly to Louise and Janet. 

"Oh, you two should know that Liz is no longer in her trance," Frodo put in. "She was brought out of it yesterday and apparently is starting to speak-"

"Ya naa there?" a familiar voice from what seemed like ages ago asked from behind the curtains. "I thought someone quene essaamin."

"What?" Janet asked. "Can't she just speak in one language? What is quene essaamin?"

"It's basically 'said my name'," Legolas replied. "I believe I know who the new arrival is, now, however." He went over to the curtain and asked, "Liz naa essaamin?"

"Yes," the voice replied, though a little unsurely. The curtain was drawn away by a mysterious force, revealing a girl sitting up in her bed and looking curiously to the group. "Quel amrun," she greeted cheerfully, scanning them and recognizing a few faces from yesterday. "Lle naa well today?" 

"You have eyes again!" Leigh squealed, happy to see her friend well again. "And what? I just understood 'well today.' I thought you stopped speaking in Elvish."

Liz looked at them carefully. Thinking carefully and trying to sort through her vocabulary she said, "You know me, I just get a little confused sometimes. And yep, my eyes are back." She smiled, trying to hid the fact that she had little to no idea what this girl was talking about.

Liz stayed pretty quiet as they all talked to her, trying to make a mental note of which name belonged to which face and speaking only after carefully deciding whether or not they would understand each of her words. They even told her a bit about herself, about what had befallen her before she had awoken in this place. This was good, as she was beginning to think that she was supposed to be a student at a place called Hogwarts or a guest of Good Magician Humphrey and about to do her years service.

Finally, she thought she had gathered enough by watching them and listening to them all to try and deepen her knowledge of what might be. "How long have you and Legolas been together, Janet? I cannot quite remember." She had chosen her words very carefully, ensuring that none of them went into 'Elvish' as she talked, though she had no idea of the difference.

"Been together?" Janet asked, astonished at the question. She almost loosened her grip on Legolas' arm as she stared blankly at her. Sure, she had been obsessing over him since she had arrived, but she had not actually been 'with' him at all.

"Llie yuuyo _obviously_ mela ilye n'at," Liz said defensively. "Amin just thought…" she let it trail off, unsure what made sense to whom but not really caring. She knew she had been caught by the astonished look of the girls who she only now knew by name, despite that they seemed to have known her for far longer than the day she knew them. 

"You don't remember anything, do you?" Kathy asked, the first to voice that she had caught on.

Liz's eyes fell and she shook her head no. Thinking through her words again she said, "I have no clue what any of you have been talking about. I am sorry. I just don't remember anything since when I woke up yesterday and a lot of stories."

"We should go," Aragorn said, having just conversed quietly with one of the healers. "They need their rest and we still have to get rid of the ring and prepare for tomorrow."

They departed, leaving their wounded allies in the Houses in a partially shocked silence. How could she have led them to believe for so long that she still had her memory fully intact? And they had believed it for so long. The girls were almost kicking themselves for missing it, but they knew there was little they could do besides trying to spark her memory somehow. Maybe she would remember everything once they returned home to their own world. 


	27. The Return

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: Please forgive me for my horrible Quenya. And no, Janet didn't find the Quenya dictionary site until after this adventure began, and therefore never learned it. And there's just one more chapter after this! *excited squeal* AND…. 100 PAGES!!!!!!! (actually 105 right now and it's not even done yet…YAY!)

Without a true leader and only a small number of tribal chiefs to lead the army in the attack, they were quickly defeated. The chiefs spent more time fighting over who was in ultimate control than leading their troops. There were very few casualties, none to the orcs as they were quick to fall into their civil wars after one of the chieftains killed another for dominance. The only major casualties were those who had fallen to the two Nazgul who had attacked, both swiftly taken out by Aragorn and Gandalf. The only real task the army performed was to drive the orcs back far enough so that they would not litter the immediate area of Minas Tirith with their bodies. It was ridiculous and a joke to have even prepared for, and was soon being made fun of to soon be forgotten.

By the time they returned, Nicole had gotten Louise to melt down the ring. It had taken all of her strength to do so and she was resting again, though this time in a much deeper slumber, to regain her strength. A weight that they had not before noticed seemed to lift from Aragorn and the end of their Nazgul problems ended. 

Leigh and Kathy talked frequently with Liz, trying to remind her of her life before in their own world. It was a very difficult task to do, they found, as she would continuously nod and say that she understood, though in truth nothing was sinking in. Everyone had tried to pitch in with the effort, but none seemed to work. She just could not understand how there could be another world that she was originally from where there were no elves when she was clearly one.

Within a week Leigh was up again and Kathy was hobbling around with a staff to help her walk. They were making plans to return to Mordor and find the gate where the girls could return home, but this was not the wish for all of them. Janet, now finding that Legolas returned her feelings did not want to leave, though he would never be able to marry her. Only females had the option of giving away their immortality and their relationship had been doomed to end from the start. The two had begun to spend more time together and getting to honestly know each other. 

Nicole hardly got to see the light of day any more, busy predicting for the King of Mirkwood who was not yet convinced that she could perform the feat with only a few small factors. She noticed a change in her ability, not having to actually figure out mathematically every time to figure out what was about to happen. Now, it came to her more like a vision or a feeling that something was going to happen in a given amount of time. Only for the long term predictions would she have to do any sort of problem solving, and she saw problems for herself in the future should she go home.

"I can't wait to get home," Kathy proclaimed at dinner one night. "Apparently I have about three months left if I stay here because of my leg, but they can fix it back home. They kept telling me I wouldn't live, like I need to hear that! Especially when they should know I'm not even from around here."

"I miss home," Leigh said. "I wonder how long we've been gone, and if anyone even tried to look for us. Not like they would actually _find_ us, but still. Then again, I got out of a Chem. test that I didn't study for, which is good. Imagine all the make up work we'll have to do when we get back."

"I miss Julie and Maria," Louise said, naming her older and younger sister respectively. "My mom's probably going to be pissed, though. Oh well, it's not like any of us actually expected for any of this to happen when we started. I should only be grounded for a year."

The hobbits were chuckling a bit beside them. "You are much like us on our first venture out into the world," Pippin said. "Unless you have relatives like poor old Bilbo had, then you're returning to a fine place. You don't have to worry about your homes being taken over when you return, or having all of your possessions sold at an auctions because you were proclaimed dead."

Ruth, however, had promptly covered her ears again. "Don't tell me! I don't know that part yet!" She looked up sheepishly to the rest of them at the end of her outburst and uncovered her ears to hear their good natured laughter. They then proceeded, everyone who knew the story helping, to tell Ruth and those who did not know it the tale of both the Hobbit and what happened after the War of the Ring when the Hobbits returned home and had to take back the Shire.

Nicole puzzled for about five minutes before she went to sleep that night over just where the location of the portal back home and began to rue the trip. She had figured out what was going to happen when she returned. She would be able to predict things in school her grades would go up, sure, but there were other complications. She would know about world disasters and robberies before they happened and would tip off the authorities. Eventually she would be adopted by the government unwillingly, under the guise of a scholarship, so that they could always have an alert system for disasters. She did not want that to happen, though she knew it probably would.

Ruth, Leigh and Louise were up late that night talking as well in Leigh's room, about all of the things they missed about home and were going to miss about Middle-Earth. They even went through what they were not going to miss, such as school and orc raids, laughing about how things in both places seemed so similar some time.

"Hey, Vilya?" Ruth asked, suddenly remembering the ring on her finger. The would surely not be able to take them out of their own world. "What's going to happen to you when we leave?"

__

We will return to the Grey Havens anew and pass from the world into the forgotten, Vilya answered. Much to their surprise, all present heard the ring in their minds._ Thank you for enabling us to go through the world once more and giving us importance. _

I will not just lay down and return, Nenya guaranteed. _I was able to bring us out of the havens once and I shall do it again. If you decide to return, that is your own choice. You _do_ belong there technically. But I will not simply return to those boring Havens._

It was not so bad, Narya said. _It is pretty enough and besides, they will have blocked off that escape route and you will not be able to trick that creature again. It was nice to have been back and _not _had that old coot as a master, so I will retire peacefully._

"So once we leave, you're going to just be gone and never return?" Louise asked for clarity.

Nenya let out a _humph_, so Narya answered. _No, without a master we cannot remain. Simple luck brought us out of the Havens before and we will not be able to escape again. _

The three girls exchanged looks, feeling a sudden guilt for having to leave the rings in a place that they did not want to be after all the help they had given over the time they had spent here. This also reminded them of the power that they would lose when they returned, the loss of the ability to control the elements they had found. They slept with many things on their mind that night.

Liz was moved back into her room the next day, though no one knew quite how long she would remain there. To keep herself busy, she offered to look after Eldarion for the day, as those who knew her seemed to have difficulties talking to her. Eldarion, though, was amused with the way she talked and worked to mimic her technique, much to the annoyance of his other caretakers. Arwen had managed to teach him Elvish under the noses of the tutors trying to make him learn each page of every charter ever written, it seemed, and he had learned now how to use that knowledge to his advantage.

"I do not believe this was the best way for him to practice his languages," Arwen said seriously, gaining the approving nods of the upset tutors who Eldarion had confused this day. Arwen herself, however, seemed quite amused.

"But if amin nowa through every beth, Eldarion naaya e'rashwe so many times by sii," Liz said in her own defense, playing along with the queen and letting her languages flow into each other to annoy the tutors. "Besides, tanya naaya no fun."

"Well, you should at least try to think through your words before you speak," Arwen said. She glanced sidelong at her son, smiling to tell him that he was not in any trouble, and neither was Liz. "But I know how much trouble he can get into if you are not quick enough to catch him. I believe that you have good reason for proceeding as you have. Now run along both of you and have your fun. I must speak with your tutors. Eldarion, please refrain from speaking Quenya."

The pair exited the room in seriousness as though they had just been scolded for doing something and quickly dissolved into giggles once the door closed behind them. "We should go and find Ruth and Leigh," Eldarion suggested. "Then we can all go on a quest to find the treasure of the Misty Mountain."

"Maybe lye quest naa utu them," Liz suggested. 

"Then let us begin our quest to find them!" he declared, leading the way. They stopped many times along the way, Eldarion finding the need to explain what had happened on previous occasions when he had traveled certain parts of the 'wilderness' they were searching through. They picked up Sam, Merry and Pippin along the way and worked hard to avoid the evil troll, Gimli, and his devious henchman, Legolas, the elf of fate. They asked directions from Celebwen, the silver maiden of the lake and Kathy the kind who had to go quickly on her way soon after. After much deliberation, they decided it best to scoot past Mithrandir, the wise man because he did not seem to be in a good mood, and if he was bothered in a bad mood he would change you into an orc. Eventually, upon the urgings of the hobbits, they made their way down to the kitchens for a quick snack before continuing on their way. 

They came to a long strip of hall that the hobbits warned against entering with tales of many dangers. After much persuasion, they came to a compromise where Liz went first to investigate and see if the mysterious predators were present and posing a threat.

She crept along the wall quietly, enjoying the hunt, even if the dangers were only in their heads. This was the most fun she had had since she had awoken a little over a week ago. People had been worrying over her amnesia, trying to make her remember things that she could not. It was almost as though this loss of memory should be bothering her.

"Okay, you do realize you have this horrible habit of not speaking in English, right?" a voice said from behind one of the doors further on. Liz listened intently to it, knowing only the girls who seemed to know her well spoke like that. 

There was a tense pause and a frustrated sigh before anyone continued. "She was under Radagast's mind control for too long and now she will probably never get her memory back," Gimli said. "Now, how are we going to go about destroying the one ring? The task fell to the ring bearer before…"

Liz slipped behind a table, still playing the game, and signaled for the others to advance. She could hear the quiet arguing over the best way to dispose of the ring this time for good, and she began to wonder about what they had said about her memory never returning. "There's dagora orquae in there." She indicated the door where she was currently eavesdropping on and they quickly proceeded on. 

By the time Eldarion had to go to dinner then to his tutors, they had nearly forgotten what, or rather who, they had been questing for. Liz tried to talk to the hobbits, to tell them what she had heard and to ask why they had not been present when Frodo had, but they did not answer because they did not understand half of the message. 

They ate dinner with the King and Queen that night, the entire Fellowship present. They informed everyone that was not already aware that in a weeks time, they would venture back into Mordor to dispose of the rings and send the girls back home. They talked excitedly, telling everyone what they would all be doing when they got home, but many of them were hiding their indecision of whether or not to return. 

"Amin can't feitha," Liz said. "Ta sounds like an yamen'seasu." 

"One language, Liz," Kathy reminded her. "One language."

"Sorry," Liz said apologetically. She though a couple seconds before speaking again. "Am I actually going to have to relearn how to speak properly? Doesn't anyone speak Quenya in that world at all who I can talk with? I really don't want to frustrate anyone by having them re-teach me."

"I believe that you have already past the point of frustration with them," Frodo pointed out.

Liz regarded him and said, "Ta iltyara llie rashwerim. Llie naa mellonamin." She smiled sweetly to her friends who were certain that she was doing this for their annoyance. Which, of course, she was.

"Why do we even bother?" Ruth asked no one in particular, her hand remaining on the forehead in which she had slapped. 

"She said that you did not mind because you were her friends," Legolas translated for them. A few of their sour looks softened slightly and shook their heads at her, seeing that, despite her memory loss, she was the same as she had always been, except for the fact that she had found a new way to do so.

The week passed far more quickly than any of them had anticipated, all of the girls having to say their goodbyes to their friends that they had made. The elves which had been staying there had left a day before them, making their way back to bringing Rivendell back to it's former glory, and that meant one less day to spend with some of their good friends.

They had intended on setting off in the morning, though they did not until after their midday meal. Their horses carried them swiftly over the plains to a safe haven for them to rest in during the night. The inn was small and had hit rough times in the face of the orc troubles, so they were more or less alone there.

The girls chatted well into the night, something that had become a common theme amongst them, talking about their reservations about going back but never being completely honest about them. They warned Kathy and Liz about Mordor and how fierce the orcs could be, especially those which had been genetically altered. 

"Portkey," Liz said out of the blue, in the middle of a description of the orcs that would not die. Thinking through her words carefully again, she explained. "We could just use a portkey to get where we are going, and then there wouldn't be all this hassle over running into all of the orcs. Just show me on a map where we have to go."

They presented this idea to the rest the next morning, though some somewhat grudgingly. The idea was accepted eventually for convenience and the fact that none of them wanted to travel through the orc lands. They ended up buying a table from the owners of the inn, finding it the only thing that was large enough for all of them to crowd around and get a hand on it. 

"Frodo, Sam, you both should stay here," Liz said. "You went insane last time because of the ring, you might do it again. Besides, I'm the new ring bearer, apparently, and I should be able to handle it." She smiled reassuringly. They eventually agreed that it would be best and took a seat on the chairs, bidding the girls a fond farewell and luck in all of their future ventures.

Before anyone could become moved any more by the moment, the portkey took effect. They landed very unceremoniously on the floor of Radagast's study where they had met and defeated him only a couple of weeks ago. The pile of wood chips that was once his staff still rested by the now overflowing basin under the dripping faucet. 

Gandalf and Aragorn moved the stone block from it's place in the wall and motioned for Liz to be quick about taking it. Curiously, she reached in and brought the thing close to her face, studying it a moment before pocketing it. "So, manke naa the portal?"

"Through there," Nicole replied, pointing to the door that led to where the story sessions took place. She was slowly learning a few of the words that Liz kept falling back to, as were the rest of them. "There's another door after that and that's where the gate is. If we take the ring through to our world where there is no magic, it will never trouble anyone again."

Single file and moving more slowly than they thought they would they made their way through the room into the near blackness of the final one. Louise let the fire of Narya show them the way, quietly assuring the ring that she would not hand it back over to Gandalf when she went through. 

The room was empty and looked as though it was made and promptly forgotten about. Cobwebs laced the corners and rats scuttled away from the bright light. In the center was a large hole in the floor with a slight light pulsating out of it as well as a great heat. In it ran a lava flow, though it was a fair distance beneath them.

"That's the portal, isn't it?" Kathy asked, figuring with their luck it couldn't have been so easy to leave this place. She clutched her staff for support and found her leg once more bothering her. 

"Yeah," Nicole replied. "How are we- oh," she said, remembering the vial Galadriel had given her resting at her side. The liquid within was by no means at rest now despite her steady hand, anxious to be released and perform it's task. "This should also send the rings back to where they belong as well," Nicole said, loosing the stopper on the vial. 

Though the vial stayed upright, the silvery liquid came out and spread itself over the surface of the hole, blocking out the light of it while giving off it's own to supplement for it. As Nicole put the vial down, the girls said goodbye to the Fellowship which most of them had become a part of, trying to hold back tears over losing close friends. Janet managed to steal a kiss from Legolas before they circled the hole now covered by the silver. 

The stood facing in, holding each other's hands, both for moral support and so that all of them would go through without backing down, even if they wanted to. Putting aside all of their fears and reservations about returning, and all of the unnecessary hardships that were sure to follow, they took a deep breath and counted to three. At the last number, they jumped in and were swallowed below the surface of the silver pool.

The fall seemed to last forever, much unlike their last experience, and they heard voices around them. They were pulled from each other, the linking of hands separated, and they all fell into blackness.

Kathy awoke in a white room with curtains pulled around her. Her leg was in a cast and she wore a regulation nightgown. The smell around her, however, told her where she was and she did not like it at all. Hospitals were among the places that she feared since her experience when she was little.

Her mother came in a few minutes later, looking relieved at the sight of her. Behind her was a doctor and what looked like newspaper reporters. One took a picture from over her mother's shoulder as her mother dipped down for a hug at seeing her little girl all better.

"What happened?" she asked anxiously, the reporters behind her either scribbling down notes or recording it on a tape. "After all these months you just appear at school unconscious. I'm so glad to have you back. What exactly happened to your leg?"

Smiling at that she was home, and hopefully going home very soon, she replied, "I picked a fight with a Nazgul and I wasn't paying attention. It's so good to be back."

"Where did you go?" Asked one of the reporters, ignoring the venomous look he received from her mother. "And what happened to all of your friends? Why are they not with you and are still missing?"

Kathy gaped at the man. "You mean they didn't get back?"


	28. Place of Belonging

Disclaimer: You recognize it, I don't own it.

A/N: YAY! Last chapter done! I have quite a flair with chater titles, don't I? *gag* Now, to cite where everything comes from, right? Subtle Knife- His Dark Materials, Will and Word- David Edding's series, The pointing thingy- Xanth, Changing people's species-Eldarion's imagination, The staff with and orb on it-Terri's imagination. Someone bug her to finish that comic, all right? Anyway, on with the story, and sorry it's so long.

Liz awoke in a place that was nothing like she thought it would be. She was in a bed in a stone room with a desk situated at the far wall with a wooden chair. The room was otherwise very plain besides the bed and desk, except for the window which showed out into a garden which might be part of a courtyard.

Still tired, but having the feeling that she had already slept long enough, she got out of the bed, stretched out her limbs, and went to the door. From the other side, however, she heard an odd conversation which might concern her, and she was beginning to wonder if everything people talked about concerned her in some way.

"I believe it would be wise to not enter _her_ room without consulting her first," an oddly familiar voice warned. But it couldn't have been, she wasn't still-

"Gandalf, she has not awoken for a week," a new voice countered. "It is not likely that she will have suddenly decided to do so now. I do believe that you are being unreasonable."

"Perhaps n'uma," Liz said, emerging from what she figured to be her new room. "Why amin naa here, by the way?"

"I believe I shall let Valuindur tell you why you are here," Gandalf said distractedly. "I believe trouble is afoot elsewhere and it will not want to be abated without the right persuasion." He left down the hall, leaving Liz as confused as ever.

"Essalle Valuindur, I'm guessing," Liz said, trying to get everything in it's right place in her mind. The elf before her stood tall and self important at the moment, a façade most likely for Gandalf that he would give up in a moment. Traditional elven braids weaved through his long light brown hair and his eyes were a cool sea green. With a slight grin she decided that all elves were good looking by nature.

"It is true after all," he said triumphantly. "You have no distinction between one language and the next. I am Valuindur, formerly of Rivendell. You are presently in Isengard where the order of the Nir'Templar Istar is being formed. You must have a great magical ability to have been chosen, you are the only female among our ranks."

"Tanya naa…. Nice," Liz said distractedly. She wanted to leave, to find out if anyone had made it back to their own world. Perhaps just a quick visit to check and see if any of her friends had made it back, then she could come back and find out all about this new order that she was to be a part of. "Namaarie for now," she said with a smile, and then disappeared.

Nicole awoke abruptly, her eyes snapping open in surprise. She knew before she had done so that she was not where she had expected to be. This was not her own world, she was still in the fanfic Middle-Earth; Minas Tirith, to be exact. And there was a small figure peering over the edge of her bed.

"I'm not dead, Eldarion," she said without moving, causing the small boy to jump and scuttle out of the room. She sat up and surveyed the room, finding it to be simple and elegant, like her old one here, except she seemed to be in a different wing. The wing of the Shield Maidens, if she was guessing right, which she usually did now. 

Eowyn entered a short while later, being led by the anxious boy. Nicole smiled at his enthusiasm towards such a simple thing as her waking up, though she had probably been there for longer than the short while she remembered. "I think something went wrong with the vial," Nicole said simply to the surprised expression on Eowyn's formerly unbelieving face. 

"We were beginning to have our doubts as to whether or not you would ever awaken," Eowyn admitted. "You appeared so soon after you had left, but none of the rest of the Fellowship has returned as of yet. Do you have word?"

"If I'm right and I've been asleep for two weeks, then they should be coming through the gates in a few moments time," Nicole said. "We took a bit of a shortcut and got there much sooner than anticipated. Liz, think then talk."

Liz had appeared from thin air into the room, regarding Nicole with surprise at her words less than a second after her appearance. Ignoring the odd looks she gained from Eldarion and Eowyn, she thought before speaking, though none of her expression was lost in that time. "You stayed here too? What happened? And what was with all of those voices?"

"Nothing went wrong, I don't think," Nicole said. "Remember- wait, you can't. Well, Galadriel said that it would take us to where we belonged. It seems that we belonged here and those voices were deciding that. Only Kathy made it back. How exactly did you find me here?"

"There was this guy in a story who always pointed to the right place no matter what. Amin can't remember essaho, though, nan'ta nae cool because that was about the luume' tanya Xanth went through it's whole…" She paused, looking at the confused expressions staring at her. She smiled, embarrassed, and stayed quiet.

"Eldarion, could you please inform your mother that our guest is awake now?" Eowyn asked. The boy left the room, still wide eyed and amazed from Liz's sudden appearance in the room, and practically fled down the hall to what sounded like a huge commotion being caused from elsewhere in the fortress. She smiled after him, imagining the look on his was much the same on her own. Listening more carefully to the commotion, and remembering what Nicole had said earlier, she managed to figure out what it was probably about. "I do believe that the Fellowship has returned."

"Llie ilnae back yet?" Liz asked, remembering to go through her words midway through the sentence. Pausing, she took a breath and tried again. "Sorry, they aren't back yet? We got there in about two days…"

"With a portkey," Nicole reminded her. "The full journey is actually a lot longer. Plus the problems travelling through orc lands without being seen. Besides, it was probably harder for them because of the civil wars that broke out over that last battle. And we will have company in three… two… one…."

Eldarion quickly entered the room, followed closely by is mother and father and a number of hobbits. Aragorn somehow managed to gape with dignity, while the hobbits simply gaped at Nicole and Liz. 

"After all that-We forgot to get an exit from you-and you didn't even go back?!" Pippin stuttered. "Orcs-trolls-everything! And you're still here?!"

Nicole and Liz managed to hide smiles at their surprise, as did Arwen and Eowyn. "You'd think they weren't happy to see that we didn't fall to our doom back there," Nicole joked to Liz. "We stayed here because it was decided that we belonged in Middle-Earth, though Kathy did go back. Would you rather have me stuck being kidnapped by the government and the rest of them put in an asylum because we talked about coming here and I kept predicting the future?"

No one responded, partially because none of them understood what an 'asylum' or 'government' was. All they knew was that it was probably a bad thing and that they should probably have not been so against their arrival here. 

"They would have put everyone in one of those things?" Liz asked, remembering to check her wording before speaking and recognizing the word. "I expected it for me, but everyone else remembers how to act in that world and how to keep their mouth shut. I should be the only one destined for a little white padded room…" She let the thought trail off, suddenly very glad that she did not turn up there.

"You would have been first," Nicole told her. "Then Janet because she would be heart broken over Legolas. Then we all would go through psychiatric evaluation and the government would find me out and take the rest of them away. Kathy wouldn't have escaped that fate if we had gone back with her."

"We're sorry," Merry apologized for everyone. "We didn't know-"

"Well, at least Kathy is back there," Nicole said. "She won't say anything because they'll convince her it was all a delusion caused by an infection of her wound and she'll more or less forget what happened. 

"Hey, Janet's still here, right?" Liz asked with an idea swimming through her head.

"Yeah," Nicole replied. "She's in Mirkwood. Why- oh. Ask him before you go to make sure, though. And everyone else is in former Rivendell."

Liz smiled and turned to Eldarion, kneeling so that he could ask him. "Can Mithrandir karna edan e'a edhel?"

The young prince smiled mischievously, knowing that he was being listened to and it was going to somehow cause something to happen elsewhere. "Uma," he replied happily. 

"Diola lle," Liz thanked before disappearing before their eyes, leaving the majority of the company in the room confused over her plans, and others who knew were smiling as though a great justice was about to be served. 

Janet's eyes snapped open at a feeling that something was not right. For one thing, this bed was definitely neither her own nor a hospital one as it was far too spacious. For another, the room had the smell of one situated near a forest, which hers did not, and would not unless they had moved over the last while and she had not been informed. Granted, it could have happened, but she highly doubted it.

Sitting up and looking curiously around her she found it to be a room that had fallen into disuse, a layer of dust developing on countertops and empty bookshelves. There was a window just to her left, her bed pushed right against it, showing a beautiful forest that seemed to have an aura of mystery about it. Dodging between the trees seemed to be elves, but could they really be? Or was this all actually a hallucination because she wanted to stay so badly?

Coming to her feet, she looked around the room, touching the things in it and accidentally hitting her leg on the side table carelessly, emitting a sharp cry of surprise. So she was not dreaming after all. But that meant that she had landed somewhere different, maybe another world that she would not recognize. Or, hopefully, she had remained in Middle-Earth and could now be with Legolas. Hopefully.

Growing bored of wandering the room, she approached the door to leave when she heard someone come towards her. They were muttering to themselves in English, or Westron depending on where she was, about how they should just forget about this particular part of the establishment as it went to so little use and was only checked in on once a month. 

Janet pressed herself flat against the wall beside the door as it swung open, and hid silently as the girl went to work. Once her back was turned, Janet slipped out of the room and into the halls to explore and try to find out where she was. The girl was right, this part had gone entirely to disuse and Janet encountered no one as she wandered. 

"Janet!" a voice said from behind her. Startled, she jumped around to see Liz there, smiling and surpressing laughter at her fright. "So, lle stayed vithel."

"Liz, don't do that!" she hissed at her, though she smiled at the sight of her anyway. Her appearance meant that, if they were not back home, then they would be in Middle-Earth. She now refused to accept the alternative of some alternate universe. "And think before you say anything, I didn't understand that."

"Sorry," Liz said after a brief pause. "Just happy to see that you got stuck here too. Only Kathy made it back, and a good thing too. Apparently back there we were all destined for an insane asylum. Except Nicole. Something about forced government recruitment. Anyway, glad you stayed!"

"Same here," she said. "Always nice to know that we were almost committed. Now, there's a forest outside and elves in it. Is this Lorien, Rivendell, or somewhere else?"

"Mirkwood," Liz answered. As she saw Janet begin to brighten up, she decided it best to go through with this as quickly as she could. "Take me to the nearest exit, probably a window, and tell me why you love Legolas on the way," she demanded.

Janet obliged and started back to her room. Amazingly, her list of reasons did not begin with the fact that he was hot or that she had been obsessed over him since seeing the movie. Those, in fact, did not come into play until they were nearly at her room, her listing off reasons such as how he was great to be with and he would let her live her own life and have her own adventure rather than making her stay at home to watch children that he did not yet want. 

The room had two guards searching it and the girl who had come into the room complaining about the section being abandoned looking at the bed with a slightly scared expression on her face. She looked to the bed, still ruffled from when Janet had removed herself from it and it seemed to cause the girl trouble. The three of them spoke to each other in elvish that Liz only vaguely now remembered; Sindarian.

"This place might have once been abandoned," she said slowly, making sure she got her words right, "but my friend has been staying there for two weeks." All eyes were now drawn to her and Janet and the guards looked as though they were about to take up arms. 

"Come on, Janet," Liz said, taking her by the wrist. "I have a little favor to do for you." She leapt up and Janet came with her as they flew over the heads of those in the room and out the window. They landed softly on the ground below and looked up to give those looking down at them a smile and wave. 

Liz began searching the forest floor for something and managed to find it as an alarm went up from where they had come from. She fixed a large rock onto the end of a branch that could operate as a walking staff, allowing tendrils from the end of it to hold it in place. There was a faint glow around it and it transformed into an elegant wizard's staff with a white crystal set in it which looked quite like the one that rested on her forehead. 

"What are you doing?" Janet asked curiously as Liz turned back to her. 

"Making it so that the King in there will have no real reason to object to you," Liz replied after a moment with a smile. "And so that we cannot be arrested when the guards catch up to us. They don't arrest elves for trespassing, after all."

"Wait, you're going to make me an elf?"

"Well, just physically and the whole long life thing. Same personality and everything else, except now you get to do a couple extra things like hear really far away and live in trees if you need to. Basic little stuff like that. You up for it?" 

When Janet promptly shook her head no, Liz smiled and took up the staff. She seemed to distend with power and a strange light came about her. There was a soft and deep murmur from her and the staff moved in her hands, the tip weaving through the air in a predetermined pattern. There was a loud crack and Janet was engulfed in a burst of light.

The guards were upon them when the light subsided to reveal Janet, slightly different than before. She was elven now, a little taller than before and holding herself more elegantly, though that was only a farce for the time being. She waited for the reaction of the guards to decide if she had changed. 

*You are both under arrest,* the commander of the guard said, looking at the two of them. He was however, quickly taken aback by them. *Was it not an elf and a human that made their way out of the window? I believe we have been slightly mistaken. Please excuse us.* Hurriedly, they took their leave, leaving Liz and Janet to try and hold straight faces.

"Want to see?" Liz asked, seeing the odd look on Janet's face.

"Yeah," Janet said excitedly. Liz managed to produce a mirror by changing her staff and making the crystal become the glass. Janet looked at it carefully, but failed to see it. "Umin edhel," she said. "To quote what you once said at the beginning of this whole thing. I don't look like an elf at all."

Liz puzzled over the matter a short few minutes and then realized what had gone wrong. "This spell allows you to keep your original soul, that of a human, and therefore that is what your reflection will show. Now, don't you think it time you _finally_ met King Thranduil? Trust me, you'll do fine, and he'll get used to you eventually."

Janet smiled and nodded. "Thanks for all this," she said as she turned. "Fell free to come by whenever you want." Another thought occurred to her and she turned back to bring it up with Liz, but she had already disappeared again. With a bit of a shrug, she went to meet the king, hardly able to contain the ideas in her mind for proving the King correct about her wildness.

The Rings were 'conscious' in their own sense of the word for the entire time, listening to the voice that decided their fate ask, "Yes or no," to many who had no idea of what they were answering to. When they arrived in their destination, they kept their masters safe from the elements and creatures that would make them prey. They talked amongst each other, often about how nice it was that their masters had found an alternative use for them than telling the future, not to mention that they had kept them all together. 

When the girls finally did awake, they at first thought that they had landed in the forest by their school. The ground they rested upon was covered in soft green foliage, oddly none of which had landed on them. They got up in confusion, looking about for everyone else and finding that they were alone here, wherever here was. They knew the forest well, however, and thought that they could find their way to a path easily.

__

And where do you all think that you are going? Nenya asked them all. 

Ignoring their startled reactions to the voice suddenly appearing in their heads in a place where things like that never happened, the Vilya continued. _Thirty votes for you all going back, twelve for splitting you up and only one or two going back and then thirty one for all of you staying. _

It's strange when you think about it, Narya put in. _None of those whatever-they-were seemed to have any idea what they were voting on. Now come on, walk to your right for a while and we'll hit Rivendell._

"But wasn't Rivendell…" Leigh asked as she got up and began to oblige the request of the ring. 

"Destroyed?" Ruth suggested. "Me too." 

The three of them walked without saying much, trying to decide whether the fact that they had stayed here was a good thing or not. It was much nicer here, and much simpler, but they still did not truly belong here in their minds. They missed their families still and had so many aspirations for the future where they had been. Then again, here they would have a great respect and the power of the rings. 

They came eventually to the remains of former Rivendell, a piles of ashes and toppled stones littering the ground. As they wandered through the wreckage, they found that the foundations of many of the buildings near the edges of the city seemed to remain intact and there were places that were merely blackened from the fire and not burnt down at all. There were a few three-walled houses that showed most of the possessions within were relatively untouched except by smoke and falling ash. The true devastation was only at the heart.

"Vendui!" a cheerful voice said behind them, quite out of place in their gloomy surroundings. The sudden breach of the near silence caused them all to jump and turn back to see Liz who, seeming slightly embarrassed by her outburst, was still smiling cheerily and had her hand on a staff. Oddly, none of them remembered that particular accessory from before and did not know when she could have possibly acquired it.

"English!" Leigh reminded her. "We don't know Quen… yeah, whatever it was. And where did you come from?"

Ruth looked to Leigh with a slight smile. "Well, when a girl and a boy love each other very much or are intoxicat-"

"I know that!" Leigh squealed, her hands reflexively coming to her ears. She pulled them away upon seeing Louise and Ruth so near laughter. "How did you get _here_? Happy now?"

"I just apparated," Liz answered, sure to think before she spoke. "Or transported, I'm not sure. I just visited with Janet in Mirkwood, but I woke up in Isengard less than an hour ago. It's been two weeks."

"Janet's still here too?" Louise asked incredulously. "Did _anyone_ make it back? Nicole or Kathy?" Wait, we've been asleep on a forest floor for two _weeks_?"

"Yes, yes, Kathy and yes," Liz answered with a smile, counting the answers on her fingers. "Rivendell is different from what I remember."

"You remember Rivendell?!" Ruth asked, utterly shocked at the words.

"Yeah," Liz said slowly, both for emphasis and to ensure nothing got messed up. "I know the story of Lord of the Rings and the descriptions of Rivendell were never like this. I saw it too, in a movie, and it definitely was not in ashes."

Ruth slumped visibly as Liz surveyed the wreckage and began to go through her repertoire of spell potential to quickly bring it back to it's original splendor. There were many to fix relatively small damages without problems, and a few for larger ones that did not fall into this category. It was beginning to infuriate her to no ends at not finding something that could ease this, though little could be done with spells of a few simple words…

A thought struck her then, and a story that she had never come to finish for various reasons. But this could wait for a bit. Her stomach growled, soon followed by the growlings of the other's. "Food sound good to anyone else?" she asked lightly.

"Chocolate if anyone has any," Louise said. "Or anything else filling from back home."

Liz thought less than a moment, all of the possibilities still fresh on her mind, before an idea struck her. "Join hands," she requested, holding hers out. "I have an idea to get some."

Not quite trusting what they were getting themselves into, they joined hands and trusted to Liz to guide them. They hardly knew what had happened when they found themselves deep in the woods. They broke hands and looked around, oddly recognizing their place as the place where they had landed when they had first arrived. Wandering around to be sure it was truly the place, they wondered what had brought them here. 

Liz's arms swung around, her fingers guiding her away to her destination. Louise, Ruth and Leigh followed curiously until she seemed to intercept an invisible wall. She held out her staff, letting it change flowingly into a knife with an odd blade of a metal none of them had ever actually seen before. It almost seemed to be alive. She let it pass slowly through the air at eye level until it caught something. She made a downward cut and a window opened to another world, one that they all recognized.

They peered through the back of the vending machine to their school where a group was gathered around it, anxiously waiting to get their item from the machine. When the window opened from Middle-Earth, there were screams and most of them cleared out as quickly as they could. All but one.

Kathy stepped curiously up to the machine and looked through to see her friends crowded around the window, trying to decide what they wanted to take. "You…" she began, but the words died on her lips, not knowing how to respond to seeing them again.

"Kathy! You're better, I see," Liz observed, though she wasn't quite sure if a cast and crutches were any improvement to the staff and hobbling. "How is everything over here?"

"It's been a week and reporters are _still_ trying to figure out what happened to you guys," she informed them. She went on to tell them about all of the theories about aliens and kidnappers she had been hearing. "You're still over there. What happened, didn't it work?"

"It worked," Liz tried to explain. "We all ended up where we belonged. We just belong back here, apparently. So, how's everything else? How long were we gone for?"

"Four months I think, but I know we were there for nearly a year," Kathy replied after a studied silence. "And you are still gone. No one believes what I'm telling them, even though they keep asking what happened."

"Don't even bother," Louise told her. "No one's going to believe that we got pulled into a fanfic world and helped destroy the ring again. Just forget about us and don't tell anyone anymore."

"Now, I think we have all we need," Ruth said cheerily, taking the last of the items out of the vending machine. Time for us to go back to former Rivendell. Bye Kathy, tell our parents we miss them."

With that, Liz closed up the window, not a trace left. Kathy stared at the space at the back of the machine, not sure what to think about what had just happened, but sure to follow their advice of not telling anyone further. She heard the sound of footsteps approaching and hobbled out as quickly as she could.

Liz smiled back at her friends, who focused now on the horde and tried to forget the opportunities that had just opened up for them. Liz went to pick one of the more colorful packages up curiously and found that her wrist was promptly caught in Leigh's hold. "What happened to your fingers?" she demanded.

Indeed, her pinkie and ring finger on her left hand had disappeared. She knew why full well and let the knife change into the staff again, her fingers promptly fading back into existence. "Side effect," she explained simply. "We should get back to Rivendell, I think I can get it back if I really try."

They made their way back the same way they had come, by teleportation, finding themselves just at the outskirts of the city. With a shakily confident smile, Liz stuck her staff into the ground before her and took a few steps back, taking calming breaths and gathering her will. Nearly a minute later, after the bearers of the ring had dissolved into chatter, she let out a loud command of, "Rebuild!"

The effect was immense and loud to those with magic. The sound of the magic was deafening and Louise, Leigh and Ruth had to cover the ears to save their hearing. Far away at Isengard, they knew from the noise that something big was happening elsewhere and that someone would soon be sent to investigate the matter if someone was not already there.

Rivendell itself came together, the ashes forming strong wood and anything needed to build it simply came. In moments the rubble and ash that had been present in the heart was replaced with great monuments that were once there. It was almost as though nothing had ever happened, except for the fact that it was completely devoid of life and the cheerful atmosphere that used to emanate from it. 

Liz was nearly at the point of collapse from the exertion of the task. She stumbled forward and leaned heavily on her staff, her head swimming around in circles and making her dizzy. "If you need me, I'll be in Isengard," she said just before she disappeared from sight. 

"Well," Louise said, a little confused. "That was interesting." She picked up a handful of the vending machine merchandise and headed towards the main citadel, leading the way for the others. They could wait there until the rest of the elves returned.

Liz woke a day later in her bed in Isengard. She got up and looked around to ascertain that it was not a dream. A new wardrobe for the day was laid out on the foot of her bed and she changed into it, unusual as it was. Her staff was leaning against the wall in the corner but it had changed. No longer was it simply a crystal that rested there, but an orb was held firmly in place by a tangle of metal vines. 

She surveyed her room as she slowly went to the door, looking at every detail that she could make out. As she took her last look before turning out into the hall and closing the door behind her, she smiled and gave an approving nod. "Amin naa home."

A/N: Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing. I hope you liked it and everyone go review and tell me how much you all loved/hated it and then go outside now that it's FINALLY NOT CRAPPY! J 


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